The Heartbreak Games
by songsaboutjasper
Summary: Going to Goode as a Junior meant that you dated either Jason Grace or Percy Jackson. They made a game out of love: whoever broke the most hearts won. Jason had gotten into the groove of things and was winning. He needed one more play: Reyna. But what happens when he learns about what the game really means? After all, love is never a game. *points where characters seem OOC*
1. On To the Next One, Well, Maybe Not

_disclaimer: I don't own these characters or How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

[edited 7/4/17]

* * *

"Look, babe, I like you. I really do, but, you and me? We aren't fit for each other. Our paths in life are just too different," said the infamous Goode basketball player Jason Grace as he broke up with his 30th girlfriend since the beginning of the junior year.

When junior year began, he and Percy Jackson, another top basketball player, started a game to see who could break more girls' hearts. The rules were simple: no dating the other competitor's dumpee, no cheating, if the girl dumps you it doesn't count, and no falling in love. With both of their track records, they both knew it would be hard to fall in love.

Jason was breaking up with Drew Tanaka, the queen of the junior year girls. Percy was still dating his 27th girl, Annabeth Chase. Jason was pretty sure Percy I'll-never-fall-in-love Jackson was falling for her. Jason was in the lead with only one more girl left, Reyna Ramirez. He had winning in the bag.

"But, Jase! I thought we REALLY had something?!" She said as she let her hand rest on his chest, batting her eyelashes, hoping to get him to change his mind. He bit his lip while thinking how good in bed Drew was and that one more night with her wouldn't be so bad, but he shook his head. He knew that if he were going to win the game, he would need to win Reyna's heart.

"I'm sorry, Drew," he began, "But at least we'll still have last night."

She looked down as she blushed and then asked slyly, "At least let me have a goodbye kiss?"

He nodded thinking, _what could go wrong with a goodbye kiss?_

She raised herself up on her tip toes and started to kiss him hungrily, her tongue exploring the roof of his mouth. Jason pushed her back to the lockers, and gripped her sides, as they started to make out.

They finished and Jason said, "Bye Drew." A smirk was plastered on his face.

She gave him a sly smile and waved her hand lightly. She answered, "If you need anything, sweetie, don't hesitate to give me a call," she winked at him and walked away, hips swaying.

From behind, Jason could hear someone whistled and clapped slowly. He turned around and saw the Leo Valdez, his best friend and star point guard of the Goode Warriors.

Jason rolled his eyes as Leo said, "That was some goodbye kiss, Grace. You think I could get one from you too?"

Jason smiled widely and answered back, "Sure, boo! Pucker up!"

Just as they were about to pretend kiss, Percy jumped in and pushed Leo to the ground. "Don't you DARE mess with my boyfriend, Valdez!" he said violently. Percy got up, smiling triumphantly and left Leo laying there.

Jason rolled his eyes and helped him up while saying playfully, "Don't worry guys! We can do a threesome!"

The boys laughed and saw Annabeth running out of the chemistry lab smiling and running straight towards Percy. She jumped into his arms for a hug and he caught her, arms wide open. "Percy! You will not BELIEVE what just happened!"

They separated and he asked her, "What?"

She talked so fast Jason only heard the words: student, exchange, partner, and the phrase 'get away from that loser.' Apparently, Percy understood every single word, as he nodded enthusiastically at everything Annabeth was saying.

Once she finished, she looked at him with wide eyes and he said, "That's great, Annie!" He gave her a charming smile.

She glared at him as he said the nickname and elbowed him in the gut.

He gave her puppy dog eyes and moved forward for a kiss. She obliged and they were sucking each other's tongues for a good five minutes as Jason and Leo stood there. As they separated, she waved goodbye to the boys and the two boys looked at the sea-green eyed boy weirdly.

Leo asked, "DUDE! How'd you understand what she said?"

He looked at them with a glint in his eyes and answered, "I didn't, but as long as you go along with whatever a lady says, you're golden." Jason and Leo both laugh at Percy and head to their homeroom class with Mr. Brunner.

 **-DONTMINDMEJUSTALITTLELINEBREAKYO-**

As Jason walked towards the opened door of his classroom, Jason spotted Reyna Ramirez. Flashbacks of the two of them playing on the playground together entered his mind. He shook his head as he walked up to her while she was talking to the student body vice president against the locker.

"Hey. Rachel, right?" Jason started. Rachel had been dumped by Percy, so he never got to know her on an intimate level. Though he wanted to get to her, everyone knew about her secret crush on Percy, so he let his friend have her.

She nodded, making her red curls bounce and answered back, "Yep. What do ya need?"

He gave her a smile and stated while looking at Reyna, "I was wondering if I could steal Reyna from you."

Rachel looked back and forth from Jason. She finally understood and made an O shape with her mouth. The red-headed girl replied, "Oh! Of course, Jason! She's all yours." She pushed Reyna forward towards Jason and winked at her quickly before leaving the two.

Jason looked at Reyna and gave her a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his neck.

Reyna looked at him weirdly, still not understanding. She asked with a guarded look, "So, what do you need Jason? I haven't heard from you in a long time."

He winced and replied, "Yeah. Look, I know we haven't really talked in a long time, but these past few days, I couldn't get you out of my mind."

She tilted her head, with a scrutinizing face that made him know that she doesn't believe him. He sighed, looked to the ceiling and laughed a fake, sad laugh, trying to get her off guard.

It worked and she softened her gaze as he started to say, "I broke up with Drew today. I've thought of you every single day. Every time you pass by me, you're the only girl in the room. Please, at least try to believe me." He waited a couple of seconds, waiting for her to soak the words up and react.

This was one of his best lines to get girls. Usually, they would eat it up, throw themselves at him. Over the years, he learned that if you make a girl feel special, they won't ask for anything more. Consider it one of his three rules for playing the game.

* * *

Reyna stared at him, looking at his face: his scar on his lip, his bright blue eyes. If you asked Reyna 2 years ago what she thought of Jason Grace she wouldn't have denied that she wanted to date him, but, looking at him now, with his cropped blond hair and a smirk playing on his lips, she knew that all he wanted to do was play her. Today wasn't the day she would fall prey to his games. Her stare grew cold and intimidating.

"Listen, Grace, if you had half a brain of what you used to have, you'd know that there is no way in HELL that I would muster up an intellectual conversation with you. Let alone go on a date with you. So, I do not believe you. Please go away and ask another girl who _does_ have half a brain and will go out with you." She strutted off into homeroom, the same homeroom Jason would be walking through in a few seconds.

Jason smiled to himself, not because he was just rejected, but because he had something to fight for. He finally met a girl that wasn't just going to fall in love with him with just one line, but someone that was going to be a challenge. Jason loved a good challenge.

* * *

 _Somewhere else in the school..._

Piper picked up the packet the office staff put on the desk for her. At the top of the page, it had the words in bold: **New Student Transfer Packet**. She sighed. Another year, another school. This was her ninth school in eleven years. She was tired. Tired of being forgotten. Forgotten by her dad, her dad's ruthless assistant Jane, and used to be 'friends' that were left in her old schools.

Piper was done trying to please her dad. This year, junior year, was going to be her way. She was going to choose where she went in the future, no one else. Her eyes skimmed through the packet, reading her class schedule, locker number, and all of the clubs and sports teams she could join.

She was going to take high school day by day and make the most out of everything, and if anyone got in her way, they were going to regret it.

Piper walked out of the office and straight to her homeroom. The problem was, she didn't know where her homeroom room was. She groaned at herself and looked around the hallway, trying to find someone that looked normal to ask directions to the room.

She settled on a Latino boy that uncannily resembled a Santa's elf wearing an orange t-shirt and old jeans. She approached him when he finally broke away from two other boys and a blonde girl with princess curls.

She walked up and said, "Hey, I was wondering if you could point me to the way of," she paused to look in the packet for her homeroom teacher's name, "Mr. Brunner's class."

He grinned wider and started, "Ah, Señorita. I see you lost your ways, let me show you the yellow brick road."

Piper rolled her eyes and smiled a little wider and said, "Tin-man, show me the way or I'll find a boy who needs a heart and seduce him to show me another way," she winked at him playfully and he started to laugh.

"Man, beauty queen," she rolled her eyes at the nickname and tried to interrupt but he continued to talk. "You get right to the point. I sense a beautiful friendship starting." He slung his arm across her shoulders and winked back.

She rolled her eyes for the third time and said, "Will you just tell me where he is already?"

He laughed and said, "I've got him as well, so do my other friends. We can walk together. But not as a couple, you're not my type." He playfully pretended to look at her, up and down.

She was about to say something else but he started to walk away and as he walked farther down the hall said, "Hurry up, Red Riding Hood! You need to find your way back home!"

Piper chuckled and raced to catch up with him to give him a long chat about how mixing up two classics is against the rules of life. If he was going to reference them, he needed to show respect.

* * *

 _A/N: Okay, before you start to tell me that this is going to be a jeyna story. GUESS WHAT? IT AINT. Because although I love Reyna, Jeyna just feels weird to me because I love Jasper so much. That's why my username has jasper in it BECAUSE I LURV IT._

 _Alright, I hope you enjoyed, write a review, give this a follow, a favorite, or hit me up in the PM!_

 _ **~songsaboutjasper :)**_


	2. Welcome to Class

_A/N: I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and favorited and followed! y'all are amazhang and super sweet and super awesome and everything in between :)_

 _disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

While Jason waited for Leo to get back from wherever he was, Jason was shamelessly flirting with a girl named Silena, just to get under Reyna's skin. Though she was talking with Annabeth, he could sense that she was sneaking glances towards the two of them from across the room. But Reyna had nothing to worry about everyone knew that Silena had a boyfriend, and he had already set his sights on her.

Just before the bell rang, Leo came in the room, but Jason didn't notice another girl walking next to Leo, since he was to focused on trying to get Reyna jealous. After a few more seconds of flirting with Silena, they both said their good byes and Jason turned around to see the new girl. He took a double take as Leo was talking with her like they had known each other for forever.

Even though she tried to play her looks down, it didn't work. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous. Her choppy hair and tan skin complimented her facial features and body shape, Jason noticed, though he wasn't looking, at least that's what he told himself. He looked at her clothes and surprised that she only wore a plain orange t-shirt and some high waisted denim shorts, that seemingly looked more stylish on her. He also noticed that she picked up on Leo's banter and had no problem in finishing his jokes. But just as he was about to introduce himself and try to charm her, their teacher, Mr. Brunner, came in through the door.

Mr. Brunner wasn't like Jason's other teachers. He was in a wheel chair, but it didn't seem to bother him at all, in fact, Jason thought that it just boosted Mr. Brunner's confidence level and he taught his class with pride. He was probably about 45 years old, but he looked older because of the clothes that he wore. Today, he was dressed up in a brown suit with his long, curly hair down to his shoulders and his glasses on the brim of his nose, probably from reading the morning newspaper.

"Good morning class," his deep voice boomed. "Before we get into the announcements, I would like to welcome a new student." He gestured to the girl next to Leo to stand, and when she did, he began to say, "I think we need to give a warm welcome to Miss," he waited for her to say her name to the class.

She nervously coughed and said, "Piper. My name is Piper." Mr. Brunner smiled gently at her and asked, "And your last name?" She laughed awkwardly, though it was an awkward laugh, Jason thought it sounded sweet and gentle, almost songlike.

Wait. Did he just think that? What happened to Reyna? What happened to the game? But he settled on the idea that he just wouldn't go for Piper. Even though she was good at the eyes, he wasn't going to put winning the game in jeopardy just for some first look crush. It wasn't worth it.

After Jason turned his attention back to her, she replied, "I, um, if it would be okay with you sir, would just like to be called Piper."

The whole class, except Mr. Brunner, looked surprised and intrigued. Why wouldn't she want to give out her last name? Was she hiding something? Jason looked around and settled his gaze behind his left shoulder where Drew was sitting, next to Dylan Cole. Some would say he was douchier than Jason, but he would argue that there were to different types of douchy. There was Dylan and then there was him. _Totally different_.

Dylan wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was check Piper out. His eyes moved up and down, as if he was looking at what type of Oreos he was about to buy in a grocery store. Before Jason could say something to stop Dylan from continuing his shopping, Drew interrupted his thoughts.

Drew taunted, "Why? Scared that we'll make fun of you? Her last name is probably something trashier than her clothes. I mean where DID you get your them from?" Drew smirked. Most girls would have looked hurt, or even glared at her, but Piper wasn't most girls.

Piper retorted, "I definitely don't shop at the store you go to. What was it called? Oh right, Bitches R Us." Piper smirked as everyone laughed, even Dylan laughed, which earned him a thwack in the head by Drew.

Mr. Brunner tried to suppress his growing smile but then told Piper, "All right, Ms. Piper, I'll let that slide since this is your first day, but please calm down." Piper grinned and sat back down, earning a fist bump from Leo.

Jason smiled to himself, that girl was something. "Okay, everyone let's start the day off by playing a game I like to call 'Get to Know Each Other!'" Everyone groaned except Piper, she didn't know what she would be getting into and Jason found that annoyingly cute and amusing.

-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOATIMELAPSE-

Once the bell rang, Jason gathered all of his stuff and raced out the door to catch up with Percy, who was going to Phys. Ed, just like him.

"Hey, dude. So, what did you think of the new girl?" Jason asked.

Percy smiled and answered, "She seems chill. I mean not really girlfriend material for me, but she seems to be awesome."

"Talking about me are we?" Leo comes up from behind, Jason looks behind him to see if Piper was there also, but she wasn't.

"Sorry man, I just can't help but feel like I might have competition for you now," Percy says back. Jason laughs and replies towards Percy, "Hey, back off! You already have a girlfriend. Leo's mine!"

Leo grinned and said, "Ladies, ladies, it's fine. There is plenty of Leo to go around!"

Jason looked down and pretended to look ashamed, "Sorry if I'm coming off to aggressive Leo."

He smiled and answered back playfully, "It's fine, I'm used to. We all know that," he said this next part obnoxiously while they passed a group of girls, "ALL THE LADIES LOVE LEO!"

The group of boys laughed and Leo puts his arm around the two boys as they pretend to strut down the hallway to their next class.

* * *

"Hey! I'm Annabeth!" Piper nodded awkwardly as she let the blonde continue, "I'm part of the welcoming committee, so I'm supposed to say that if you need anything, just ask me or my friend Reyna over there," she threw her thumb over her shoulder, pointing out a girl with brown hair in a tight braid, wearing some high waisted jeans and a violet shirt.

Piper smiled and answered back, "Thank you. Um, could you, maybe, show me the way to biology? I have," she paused to get out her packet from earlier this morning, "Mrs. Demeter."

Annabeth smiles and replies, "I have that class as well, walk with me."

Piper smiles and gathered her things as Annabeth waits outside the door for her. Once she had everything, she leaves with Annabeth.

"So, how do you like Goode so far?" Piper sighs and looks around the hallway. They were on the second floor and are walking on the balcony that looks over an outdoor courtyard for students to study.

"It's cool, I guess. I mean, I haven't really been here a long time, but from what I've seen it's pretty cool."

Annabeth laughs and replies, "Oh yeah, I definitely love the school's structure. My mom designed it," Piper was impressed, but let Annabeth continue, "So, I saw you walked into class with Leo, did you two know each other from somewhere?"

"Not particularly, I just asked him for the way to Mr. Brunner's and we just sort of clicked," Annabeth nodded waiting for her to keep going, "You know how when two people meet and then they just become best friends? That's what happened." Annabeth nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence.

Annabeth broke the silence, forcing Piper to come out of her thoughts of her dad somewhere else in the country, forgetting about his own daughter. "Have you met anyone else yet?"

"Nope. Why, do you know someone I should look out for?"

Annabeth hesitated, but then said uncomfortably, "My boyfriend, Percy Jackson, is friend's with this guy. His name is Jason Grace." Piper was confused, where was she going with this?

The confusion was probably shown on her face because Annabeth said, "I know, it might not seem relevant but, Leo's best friends with Jason as well. And, well, Jason's sort of a player. When he sees a girl, he jumps, they date a little and then BAM! They break up. It's like he has a list of girls that he just wants to break up with. That girl that you called a bitch this morning. Awesome job, by the way. But it's just that, I don't want you to fall for his irresistible charm."

Piper nodded, she understood now, and she smiled, "Thank you for warning me. It means a lot that you warned me even though he hasn't even made a move on me." Annabeth smiled back and they walked into the biology lab.

She took her seat next to Annabeth and as they learned about each other another girl, Reyna, walked in and sat on the other side of Annabeth.

She nodded at Piper as a hello and Piper said, "Hi, you must be Reyna. Annabeth told me you were part of the welcoming committee too." She nodded politely, signaling to Piper that she wasn't in the mood to talk. Piper raises her eyebrow and looks at Annabeth.

Annabeth shrugged and explained, "She had a run in with Jason today."

Piper, still looking confused, got Reyna to snap out of her silence and interject, "He just thinks that he can suddenly jump back into my life! And I bet all he is doing is trying to hook up with every single girl in our grade. Ugh! The nerve of that guy! He's probably the second overall douche bag in our grade!"

Piper replied, "I'm guessing that this isn't the first time you've spoken to the guy?"

Annebeth answered, "They used to be best friends when they were younger. They were inseparable. But when high school came Jason became a jock and left Reyna in the dust. Not to mention him doing something super vicious to her the next year."

Piper was about to ask what he did when Reyna picks up where Annabeth left off, "And now he wants me to date him, but the funny thing is, is that he thinks he can break my heart AGAIN!"

Annabeth put a hand on her back, and Piper sat there silently, staying in her thoughts. She thought that Reyna's reaction was a little over-dramatic, but then she realized that Reyna's still not over that guy. Jason Grace.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so I just want to thank everyone who took the time to review it means so so so much to me that you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! And I am going to say that Jasper is endgame, and this is all just part of my master plan MWAHAHHHHAHAHAH k expect some more chapters soon :)**

 **K BYE,**

 _ **~songsaboutjasper**_

 _also: if you enjoyed this, review/favorite/follow maybe? It would mean a TON to me :D_


	3. First Impressions

_disclaimer: I do not own any of those characters or How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

The bell rang and Piper went to go find her locker since she had free period now. She got her packet out and looked to see what her locker number was, it said: **812**. _(A/N: this number is a date and it has something to do with the series! if you know what it is write a review and say: anyone's a hero!)_ Piper tried to find a set of lockers in the hallway, to see if her's was close to any of them. She found some along a wall and looked at the numbers to find them only in the 500's, so she was completely lost. She spent a few minutes looking for a student to ask for help, when someone came up from behind her and asked, "Do you need any help?"

Piper turned around in surprise and she came face to face with probably the most beautiful boy she's ever seen in her entire life, and she's met Zac Efron. _(A/N: because HSM!)_ He had blond hair and the most electrifying blue eyes that made her want to melt. He smiled sweetly at her and she snaps out of her daze and replies, "Uh, yeah. I'm looking for locker 812. Do you know where that is?" "What? No, Hi my name is? Have you ever heard of manners, Ms. I have no last name?" he asked jokingly. Piper rolled her eyes and replied hastily, "Have you ever heard of being in a hurry to get to your next class?" Not that she was in a hurry, she just didn't have a smart remark to reply. The boy grinned even more and decided to walk away, but Piper wasn't going down this easy, she ran after him.

"Hey! So, you're just going to run away whenever a girl doesn't throw herself at you?" He chuckled and started to say, "No, I'm going to my locker, which coincidentally, is right next to yours. I'm 810." She rolled her eyes, ready to interrupt him and discuss the topic of being polite, but he continued saying, "Also, yes, I am quite surprised that you didn't throw yourself at me," he replied jokingly. Piper playfully shoved him and said back, "So, guessing that you knew that I didn't want my last name to be known, you were in my homeroom class?" "Yep," the boy said popping the P. "So, since you know my name, it's only fair for me to know yours." "Oh, yeah, my name's Jason."

Piper paused, stopping the both of them. "Like, Jason Grace?" He looked at her weirdly and answered, "Yeah, why? I didn't think my last name was that bad." She shook her head and said quickly, "Oh, no it's nothing." He nodded his head and continued walking as if he understood. Piper rolled her eyes thinking, boys are so clueless, and caught up to him. "It's just that," she started to say, "You aren't as douchey as I would have expected you to be." He nods, but then does a double take and says, "Wait. Who said I was really douchey?" She laughed and said in reply, "Sorry man, bros before hoes."

Jason stays silent for a couple of seconds and says, "Isn't it hoes before bros?" Piper laughs and shakes her head "Definitely not, why would someone put a hoe before a brother? That makes no sense." It was his turn to laugh and he replies back as they get close to their lockers, "Because hoes represents girls and bros represents the boys." She shakes her head and says back, "You are so sexist." "Am not! I respect women." "Yeah, that's why you've dated like 30 girls in the course of 3 months. It makes total sense," Piper retorts sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes and they stayed quiet until they reached their lockers. Piper awkwardly said,"Well, thanks for showing me to my locker, Grace." He replied slyly, "No problem. And if you need anything else for me to show you, don't hesitate." He winked at her and Piper shoved him away and replied with disgust, "Ugh! Perv!" He laughed and left.

* * *

Jason didn't know what was wrong with himself. He usually didn't let himself get so friendly with girls that beautiful because what if they became best friends and then he needed her for the game? It would be like an act of betrayal. But Piper was so chill and funny as well. He now knew how it was so easy for Leo to become good friends with her.

He was on his way to the courtyard to study for his test in Chemistry. He may love girls, but he also needed good grades, other wise his dad would kill him. Jason needed to get into an Ivy League school for college because that was all his dad wanted from him. His dad being one of the most popular activists about air pollution that graduated from Yale University, Jason needed to get into a school no less than that to please his dad. So, for him to achieve that, he needed to hit the books first and girls second, which he hated. But he would do anything to make his father be proud of him, so he sat down at a table alone and got started by going over his notes.

Jason couldn't concentrate though, his mind just drifted off to Reyna and Piper. Two gorgeous girls with such different qualities. But why was Jason even thinking this? He didn't even like Piper, at least that's what he was trying to tell himself and anyways, he doubted Piper liked him. Reyna, though, he knew she liked him. He could see it in the way she always snook glances at him and the way she played hard to get. But he knew she wouldn't give in that easily to him. She was Reyna freaking Ramirez, captain of about all the clubs and straight-A student. If anyone could resist Jason it would be her.

His original plan that he used on getting other girls' hearts wouldn't work on Reyna. With Drew and other girls his four rules were to always have fun, to never get attached, to always let the girl feel in control, and his last rule was to look like he wasn't the one who was at fault. The last one was especially hard for Jason to persuade for some girls, but he always still won them over. And he wasn't going to lose his streak to any other girl, not even Reyna. He just had to adjust his rules to her, and then she'll fall in love with him. He just hoped he wouldn't fall in love with someone else before that.

* * *

"So I saw you walking with Jason this morning after Bio," Annabeth started as she sat next to Piper in the library. They were working on homework during free period. "Just, don't get your hopes up. He's bad news." Piper looked up from her packet, she was filling out some more forms, and said, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it. Plus, I saw the look on Reyna's face, she obviously still likes him. I'm not THAT type of girl, you know." Piper playfully threw a paper ball at Annabeth's head.

Annabeth caught the ball in midair, without looking up from her paper and replied, "I know, it's just that he has a way of, how do I say this, turning people into mush when he talks to them. And Reyna doesn't like Jason. What are you talking about?" Piper rolled her eyes and said back, "Huh, yeah sure. You don't see it?" This made Annabeth look up from her paper she was writing and she shook her head, not understanding. Piper explained, "Well, I mean, didn't you see that look in her eye? That kind of longing that she wanted Jason to, like, I don't know, fight for her, I guess you might say. And then when she was EXTRA annoyed by him, from something so little. Like, so what, he flirted with you. He flirts with sea gulls." They both laughed at the remark.

Annabeth had a look of realization on her face, suddenly getting what Piper was saying and whisper-shouted to her, "You're right! How did I not know this before?!" Piper smiled and gestured for her to lower her voice down so they wouldn't get kicked out and said, "Well, you don't like Jason right?" she nods and Piper continues, "She probably didn't want to straight up confess to you, because she probably knew what your reaction would be. Plus, I bet she's still trying to convince herself that she doesn't like him as well." Annabeth nods and understands what Piper was saying and the two fall into silence, returning back to what they were working on.

-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOATIMELAPSE-

Piper walked into the cafeteria after two more periods of school. She looked around, trying to find Leo or Annabeth, but the only person she could find that she knew was Reyna. Piper awkwardly walked towards the brunette reading a history textbook, and gingerly sat down next to her. Reyna looked up from her book and looked surprised to see her, so Piper awkwardly waved and said, "Hey, Reyna. I hope you don't mind that I sat here, it's just that I looked around and I didn't see anyone else that I knew, so I just assumed that I could sit here. But if you want, I could move over there, or anywhere else, but here," she continued to embarrassingly ramble, until she saw Reyna chuckle.

"What? Do you find this amusing? Me being embarrassed that I just expected you to be okay with me sitting here?" Reyna laughed and then said back, "No, I was laughing because it's nice to know that you're polite. It's perfectly fine for you to sit here." Piper exhaled in relief and Reyna continued on, "Annabeth usually meets up with Percy for half of her lunch and they 'study,' in other words, make out. She comes back though for her last half of lunch and talks with me, but in this case, you and I."

Piper nods and then asks, "So, are you guys best friends?" Reyna nods her head, hesitates, and then answers, "There used to be three of us. Jason has an older sister who's two grades older than us, her name was Thalia. She always hung out with me and Annabeth, more like just Annabeth, though. She was polite whenever I was there, of course, but it was always the 'Thalia and Annabeth Show,' if you know what I mean." Piper nodded, she did know. Her dad always seemed to prefer his career over his own daughter. She always felt second place and she knew Reyna felt the same even now.

"So, you two are best friends now?" Reyna shakes her head a little and replies, "More like, we talk to each other when we can. She usually hangs out with her boyfriend Percy. Usually I'm a lone wolf, that is until now," she smiles at Piper and Piper grins back. "Well, you are officially not a lone wolf anymore. But, I would prefer to be a werewolf. Just so you know" The two girls laugh, and they both knew that this was the start of a great friendship.

* * *

 _A/N: I am so sorry for the cheesiness in the last sentence but_ **spoiler alert!** _OBVIOUSLY it's not gonna be smooth sailing for their friendship, is that a spoiler? idek, but just incase I put a warning haha_

 _BUT ANYWAYS, thank you all SO SO SO SO much for the sweet reviews, it makes me so happy knowing that I made at least one person's day, because that's all I want to do and it means so much to me that you are enjoying this :)_

 _ALSO if you didn't know, this song was inspired by How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds, so if you haven't listened to it, I would definitely recommend it, it's a really great song! _

_tell me what you thought about this chapter in a review or you can also follow/favorite if you would like, it would make my day :)_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper :D_**


	4. Interrupted Again

**edited 10/11/17**

 _A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! None of you got the 8/12 reference, but it was the day The Lost Hero was released! It was 8/12/10 to be exact, it's crazy how time flies by! Anyways, thank you all for your wonderful reviews! It makes me smile so so much!_

 _disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the song How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

"There's the grey-eyed, blonde haired girl we've been waiting for!" Piper said with excitement as she saw Annabeth walking towards their table. While they were waiting for Annabeth, Piper and Reyna started to get to know each other. She now knew Reyna's favorite color, animal, song, and also what college she was planning on attending. Reyna seems so put together in her eyes, which was the total opposite of Piper. She didn't even know what she wanted to have for breakfast, let alone what college she was going to attend.

"Sorry, Percy got confused on the difference of the anatomy of a human and a plant," Annabeth explained.

"Are you sure he was the only one confused?" Reyna asked suggestively, as she pointed to Annabeth's blue button up blouse that wasn't buttoned correctly. Annabeth blushed and asked if the two of them could accompany her to the bathroom. They bursted out laughing before they started to clean up their things to go with Annabeth. Once the two finished, they all started to walk out the cafeteria to the ladies' room as Jason, Percy, and Leo walked into the cafeteria for their own lunch period.

Annabeth asked the other two girls, "Hey, do you think we could say hi to them?" She pointed at the group of guys who had just sat down and started eating lunch. Piper and Reyna looked over just in time to see Percy waving to them.

Piper looked at Reyna and saw the uncomfortable look in her eyes, but she still seemed determined to not let Jason get to her and she answered back, "Yeah, totally. Why not?"

They group walked over to the guys and Annabeth started by saying, "Hey, Percy!" The green-eyed boy laughed and pulled the blonde onto his lap, while Annabeth started protesting that they saw each other a few minutes ago. She got a peck on the lips as a reply and they started to make out, leaving the others in the group uncomfortable. Piper sat next to Leo as he was eating a burrito with some Cool Ranch Doritos, while Reyna gingerly sat next to Jason, who was eyeing her weirdly as he ate his pepperoni pizza.

As the only couple at the table was swapping spit, Piper coughed awkwardly and Leo started up a conversation with her. "So, Beauty Queen, how you liking Goode?" She answered, "Good, **(EHH? Get it? Goode, good? I kind of hate myself for doing that XD))** I made a new friend!"

She playfully blew a kiss at Reyna, but Jason thought she was doing it toward him, so he said, "AWW! Thanks Pipes! I didn't know you we were THAT friendly!"

He gave her a playful smile and a wink as she wrinkled her nose and retorted, "I wasn't doing it towards you Grace. I was blowing a kiss towards my dear boo, Reyna." Piper winked at the said girl, giving the brunette the opportunity to blow a kiss in Piper's direction.

Leo then said, "Don't worry Jason! You still have me!" He then took Jason's hand with the one that had held his burrito, then using the other, fed the blond a Dorito.

Jason playfully accepted it with his mouth and spoke while still chomping on the chip, "Thanks man! But you just aren't the same as Piper. It's not you, it's me."

Piper playfully threw another of Leo's chips at Jason, while Leo, pretending to be hurt, replied, "Wait, are you saying that, what we had was never real?"

Jason nodded, pretending to be sad saying, "I'm sorry man." The group, excluding the two who were still kissing, laughed together.

Jason's smile faded as he looked at his phone. Piper noticed the change of mood on his face, but decided to bring it up with him privately. Leo started up a conversation with Reyna along with Piper chiming in from time to time, but Jason remained silent, not even saying good bye to the girls when they left for their next class.

"Hey, did you notice Jason's face when he read something on his phone?" Piper asked to the two girls that were on either side of her.

Both of them shook their heads and Reyna reassured her, "It was probably nothing. Jason has a streak of being over dramatic sometimes."

Piper nodded without saying anything, she still wasn't convinced that it was nothing. The girls separated to go to their own classes, promising to meet up for their next period that they had together which was Phys. Ed.

* * *

Jason was in a rotten mood. He still didn't know what to do with Reyna. She never even glanced at him when the girls sat at their lunch table and his other problem was that his sister, Thalia, wasn't going to be able to come home for Thanksgiving. She texted him the news that she wouldn't be able to come, which made him disappointed. Thanksgiving was their favorite holiday to spend together, even more than Christmas. Now, Jason had to spend his favorite holiday with his hard to please dad and stuck-up stepmom, Hera.

He now sat in his Chemistry lab seat, waiting for his partner, Leo. When he turned around to spot him walking through the door, Leo walked towards a girl Jason vaguely remembered dating Percy who's name was Calypso.

Jason looked at him, his face saying: 'Dude, what the hell?' Leo shrugged and nodded his head towards our teacher, Mr. Hermes. "Hello, class. Due to some disruptions in previous classes," he said this while pointedly looking at Leo who flashed a peace sign, "I switched around some lab partners so Mr. Valdez is now partnered with Ms. Calypso Williams and Mr. Grace is now partnered with Ms. Ramirez."

Jason looks up shocked to see that the seat next to him was now occupied by Reyna. She forced a smile to him and went back to her notes, as Mr. Hermes continued talking, now rambling about the lesson they were currently learning. Jason kept stealing glances at Reyna, noticing how concentrated she was when their teacher said something important or whenever she didn't understand anything that her perfect eyebrows scrunched together.

Once class finished, Jason approached Reyna and said, "Hey, Rey!" She glared at him when he said the old nickname, but he continued on by saying, "Could you still possibly give me a chance? Not even a date, just, a, um, hang out maybe?"

She crossed her arms still not convinced and when she was just about to answer, they both heard a voice from behind them.

"Hey, guys! Reyna, you coming to Phys. Ed with me? Oh, sorry, was I interrupting something?" The two turned around and saw Piper running towards them.

Reyna looked relieved and answered back quickly, "No! You weren't at all! Yeah, let's go," she looked at him with a friendly smile and said, "Bye Jase!" He waved back silently to Reyna. He was speechless. Jason was so close to find out if she would give him a chance, but of course the one and only, Piper McLean had to ruin the moment.

 **-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOATIMELAPSE-**

Leo approached Jason. "Hey, Compadre. I heard what happened with Reyna."

Jason looked at his best friend, Leo, weirdly and replied back, "What are you talking about, man?"

His friend laughed at him and realized he was serious so he replied, "What? You'd don't know? You totally blew it! I watched what happened in the hallway, she was totally gonna fall for it! But then, I overheard Annabeth getting her to her senses, because, you know, your Jason Grace. All your looking for is sex." Leo winced at his last remarked and said quickly, "But, I mean, of course your not! Your a good guy! You," he tried to think of something that could make Jason feel better but then said, "um, have nice hair?"

Jason snorted at the last comment as Leo nervously laughed, because everyone knew he was lying, including Jason.

Jason laughed a little and replied, "It's fine man. You know me, a free spirit. Not attached to anything at all. And you know I'm only doing this because of the game me and Perce are playing, you know that, right?"

Leo didn't look convinced, but reluctantly nodded anyways, knowing that Jason would understand what was happening sooner or later.

Just then, the two saw Piper walking towards them in the hallway, but not intentionally since she was looking at the school map. Leo saw this as an opportunity to bug her and said, "Hey, Beauty Queen, what class you going to next?"

She stopped walking and shoved Leo lightly at the nickname and then answering, "I'm going to Trigonometry class right now. What class y'all going to?" Jason snorted and she glared at him, "What, Grace?"

He laughed and said, "Nothing," she looked at him, knowing that it wasn't just 'nothing.' He gave in and said, "It's just, I never saw you as the type to say 'y'all.'"

Leo snorted at the comment as well and she kicked both of their shins as they started to laugh together. "Is it my fault that I have two idiots as friends that point out stupid things like me saying 'y'all'?" The two continued to laugh and she said exasperatedly, "Ugh! You guys are relentless!" She sighed and walked away, but Jason could see the small smile she was trying to hide from them.

He smiled to himself as he helped Leo up from the floor, where he was still laughing like a maniac. Once he calmed down, he noticed Jason's smile and asked, "Dude, what are you smiling at? And don't say my face again. I probably looked in the mirror for an hour that day, looking for what you did to me! Because this smile is different, it's like you're, I don't know, hypnotized or something like that."

Jason wiped the smile off his face and laughed saying, "It's nothing man, let's get to class."

Leo looked at his watch and panics while saying, "DUDE! WE NEED TO BE THERE IN 3 MINUTES! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"

Jason panicked as well since their next class was across the school. "What were they going to do?" The two looked around for a second, but then he spotted something that made him grin like a maniac.

Leo noticed this and asked, "What are you grinning about?" All Jason did was point to what was coming towards them. Leo looked in that direction and he started to laugh like he couldn't believe what was happening.

Piper was going towards them in a golf cart the school used for transportation in emergencies because their school extremely large. She looked confidently at them with a smirk on her face saying, "Get in losers, we're going to class."

The two boys high fived each other as they hurriedly got in. Let's just say Piper got a detention for 'accidentally' using the golf cart, while Leo and Jason got detentions for agreeing to use it. But the trio didn't care, they had a hell of a time.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry about the wait, but I think I have a writing schedule now so that's great! I'll be updating this story on either Friday's or Saturday's (depending on what's going on in my life.) BBUUUTTT yeah! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

 _There was a long wait because I was kind of forcing myself to write in the beginning of this chap, so I'm sorry if the beginning feels sort of weird or forced, but I just took a few days off from writing and now the words just flow out of me, which is a lot better than before!_

 _But anyways, thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed it don't forget to review/follow/favorite! I would love to hear what you thought of this chapter and if you have any ideas, don't hesitate to say them (I'll also give you credit if I use them of course!) :)_

 _ **~songsaboutjasper :D**_


	5. The Unexpected and More Unexpected

_thank you so much for your support!_

 _disclaimer: I don't own these fabulous characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 _Two weeks later..._

Jason didn't know what he was going to do. It had been two weeks and he hasn't said a word to Reyna. He has had two weeks to make up a plan to get her, but he had absolutely nothing. He was clueless when it came to girls that could see past him, that could sense his tricks before he even said a word.

"Hey, man." He looked up from the bleachers he sat on in the gym, to find Percy walking towards him with a serious face on. Percy usually never had that face on, but when he did, it meant that either something bad was about to happen or he was determined to do something, or both. "What's up, dude?" The green-eyed boy sighed and sat down next to Jason.

"You know how I've been spending a lot of time with Annabeth right?" Jason snorted saying under his breath, "A little too much time, if you know what I mean." Percy glared at him and continued, "Well, what do you think would happen if I told you that I might be thinking about, I dunno, breaking up with her?" He braced himself as Jason started to practically shout, "What?! What are you talking about? You are out of your damn mind!"

Percy sighed and said quietly, "I knew that you wouldn't understand." Jason scoffed and said, "What do you mean by that?" Percy's voice grew and said, "I knew that you wouldn't understand this! That you wouldn't get this! When it comes to things like this, you always have the opposite of mine!" Percy's hands are flying out of control as he talked and Jason replied saying, "I don't understand this because I see the way you look at her, man! And no dude should ever give up a girl that makes him look at her that way!" Percy snorted at this and retorted, "What about you! You're breaking up with girls faster than Leo flirting with them!" Jason said back fiercely, "Yeah, I am! But you know what? It's because I never looked at any of them the way you look at Annabeth! You can't break up with her man, she makes you happy."

Percy becomes silent. After a few seconds of silence, he whispers fiercely, "Who are you to tell me what makes me happy." Just as Jason was about to reply, they hear a voice that says, "What's up brahs! My brothers from different mothers!" "Nothing, Leo. Absolutely nothing," Percy says as he gets up, walking away from the two boys, and out the gym. "What's up with him? Did you to break up or something? BECAUSE IF YOU DID, I CALL DIBS ON YOU!" He smiles, waiting for Jason to say something, but he doesn't.

Leo's smile grows into a frown and he asks, "Dude, what happened?" Jason just replies, "To be honest Leo, I have absolutely know idea." Leo nods, not pushing Jason to say anything else and offers to shoot some hoops with just the two of them until the bell rings for the next class. Jason obliges and they silently shoot hoops.

* * *

 **-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOATIMELAPSE-**

"Hey man," Jason says to Percy as he sits down at their lunch table. "I'm sorry about not being okay with your decision. It's just that I don't want you to make the worst decision of your life," he was about to continue until Percy interrupts him by saying, "I did it already." Jason looks stunned a him and Percy continues, "I broke it off in Chem class."

At that moment, Jason looks towards the cafeteria doors to find two familiar brunettes on either side of Annabeth, who was glaring daggers at Percy's head. She mouthes towards Jason, "He's dead." He nods at the blonde and looks at Percy. He was playing with his blue jello and remained silent.

After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly says, "You know, I don't know why I did it." Jason tilts his head, confused and the boy continues, "It's not like I wanted to hurt her or even because of the stupid game." He plays with his jello and then asks, "So why did I do it?" Jason replies with the most honest answer he could give, "I don't know man, I honestly don't know."

At that moment, he felt a finger tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find Piper standing there, with an awkward smile on her face. She says, "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jason looked at Percy, who was still playing with his jello and nods at her. She lead Jason to a set of lockers near the cafeteria.

"So, what did you," before Jason could finish, Piper hit him hard in the arm. "OWW! What's your problem McLean?!" She asked him dangerously, "Why did your douche bag of a best friend break up with Annabeth?" Jason snorted and she narrowed her ever-changing eyes at him, "What? Is this hilarious to you? One of my best friend's was dumped by a psychopath that takes the name Percy Jackson is funny?" Jason replied amusingly, "No. What I think is funny is that you would think that I know why Percy broke up with her. We may be the same gender, but we have totally different minds."

She sighed and said to herself out loud, "Boys are useless." Jason was about to retort something smart back, but she started to walk away from him. He ran to catch up and smoothly said to her, "Hey! So you're just going to run away whenever a boy doesn't throw himself at you?" She chuckled and played along saying, "No, I'm going to my locker, which coincidentally is next to yours. I'm 812." The two laugh and Jason walks with her to their lockers.

Once they get there Jason says, "So, remind me why I walked to our lockers during my lunch period for no apparent reason?" Piper grinned and replied, "No idea, whatsoever, Grace. See you around." She tipped her imaginary hat toward him and he saluted her and walked back towards the cafeteria silently. With no surprise, he found Percy still playing with his jello. He sighed and sat down where his uneaten lunch was and went back to his thoughts for the rest of lunch.

* * *

Piper walked towards Annabeth, who was trying to forget about her worries through a book. "Hey, man. What you reading about this time?" She sighs and puts the book down on her desk and answered, "Greek architecture. It's amazing how they built this stuff over 1,000 years ago and yet it still stands today. Who knew that a civilization back then could make something so lasting?" Piper scoffs and says, "Do you have anything better to do then rereading an architecture book?" Annabeth sighs and looks out the window.

Piper tries to save herself by saying, "What you need to do is be a girl again! Get mani-pedis, new wardrobe, your hair done. You're back on the market again chicka! Let's celebrate, there's nothing better than being single!" She sighs again and then says, "I would love to do that, but one problem. I'm kinda broke." Piper grinned, pulled out her dad's credit card and then said happily, "Don't worry, I've got that covered. It's my dad's, he says I can use it when I need to." Annabeth breaks out into a grin and gratefully accepts the hand that Piper extended her.

 **-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOLOOKITSACUTETIMELAPSE-**

Piper grugdingly carried Annabeth's clothes from the fifty stores they shopped at. Annabeth was a few steps ahead of Piper, happily walking to the salon they were going to have manicures and pedicures done. "Hey, Piper?" Annabeth suddenly asked. Piper looked up at her, still strugling with the bags of clothes, managed to say, "Yeah? What's up?" "Thank you. I haven't had a girls day in a really long time and I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate you doing this for me." Piper's face bursted into a grin and said, "Hey, what are girlfriends for?"

Piper's bags then fell out of her grasp. Annabeth surged to help out, but Piper waved her off saying, "No, it's fine. I've got this." When she finished, she looked to her left and spotted to figures making out against a wall. She looked at Annabeth quickly, and sighed with relief that she wandered into a book store. She looked at the two figures closely and gasped loudly to see that it was Percy with some random girl. She probably gasped too loud, because the two figures stopped briefly and looked towards her direction.

Percy turned around and saw Piper with her mouth open. He looked at her guiltily and when Piper ran into the bookstore to get Annabeth so they could leave, he started to run towards her, leaving the slut behind, against a wall, already half undressed. "Piper! It isn't what it looks like!" She scoffed and retorted back ferociously, "Really? Cause it looks like you were making out with some random girl RIGHT AFTER you broke up with my best friend." He stayed silent and PIper finished the conversation by saying, "Don't hurt yourself on the way out, Jackson," and she turned around to grab her friend, who was still obliviously, to finish their girl's day, without any boys.

* * *

 _A/N: k, chapter DONEEEE. Looks like Percy's really confused about everything going on..._

 _WHALE, you'll see what happens in zee next chaptah_

 _KK! Review/favorite/follow if you enjoyed this story! And also tell me what you think, I would love to know!_

 _This chapter was a little weak in my opinion, but that's because my wifi was being crappy and I couldn't save the original draft of the first part... ARGHHHH_

 _hope you enjoyed,_

 ** _songaboutjasper :D_**


	6. The Plan and A Bet

_okay, so sorry about the last chapters drama... so you can see what happens NEXT CHAPTER mwahhahahahahaha... K anyway thanks for your reviews/favorites/following it makes me so happy :D_

 _disclaimer: I do not own these character or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

"Okay, man, you've got this," Jason said to himself as he was walking towards Reyna in Spanish class. "Hola, dude! I didn't know that you were in my class! Tis muy caliente!" Leo shouted across the classroom, making everyone stare at the conversation. Jason looked around hurriedly and he then landed on the girl he was about to talk to, Reyna. He held her gaze until she rolled her eyes and went back to her paper. He sighed as he put back on his game face and replied smoothly back to Leo, "Nah, man. I was just trying to find Art class. Wrong room, see you later for some practice hoops?" Leo nodded and said, "AWEE YEAH! GET READY TO BE SCHOOLED BY THE MASTER!" and waved his hand obnoxiously as Jason left the room.

He sighed against the lockers near the Spanish room, he needed a plan. Percy was free, and going through girls like they were chips, and slowly catching up with Jason's numbers. "Hey, bruh. You look down, did your fave celeb couple break up again?" Piper teased as she approached Jason, still leaning against the lockers. He snorted and replied, "I wish, more like girl problems. Any advice?" She smirked and answered smoothly back, "Depends, who's the lucky girl?" He sighed and decided not to tell her and said, "Depends on your advice." She chuckled and started walking away and shouted back, "Your loss, all girls are VERY complicated, and all I've heard you could do is seduce one with a brain like a chipmunk!"

He rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up with her while saying, "You know, most girls would jump at the chance of helping me with dating advice. They would see it as a chance to get in my pants." She snorted as she took something out of her bag, a folder for Drama class, while saying, "Great rhyming skills, Grace, but I'm not most girls and that's why you asked me, right? Because most girls would think you were asking them out, am I right?" He chuckled and raised his hands up as they walked as he said, "You caught me McLean. Now, will you help me?" She turned around, walking backwards and pretended to think and then said, "On one condition, you give me that chocolate bar in your bag," Jason looked at her shocked as she smirked and explained, "I have a nag for looking through people's things, call it a hobby maybe a fetish, I don't care. Just give me the chocolate bar."

Jason sighed as he handed over the King Sized KitKat bar and replied before giving it to her, "This better be worth it, I've been surviving this whole day on the idea of that bar." She happily took it and opened it and breaking off a piece and eating a slice before putting the rest in her back pocket. He cringed before saying, "You know the chocolate is gonna melt that way right?" She rolled her eyes, giving him a look that said 'do you think I care?' and continued to walk. She broke the silence by saying, "So, who's the lucky contestant?" "Reyna." She stopped walking. He looked at her weirdly and asked, "What? Was I to forward with that? Do you want to pretend I didn't say that and replay the conversation?"

She shook her head quickly and responded by saying, "No, it's not that, it's just that I didn't know you wanted to go for a girl THAT smart. I would've thought someone like Drew or something." He scoffed and said, "Been there, done that. All it took was a text and she was over at my house taking my clothes off and," Piper stopped him right there with a raise of her hand before saying, "Nough said. I don't need to know about your midnight booty calls or sexting. Kay, Grace?" He laughed and nodded as she started again, "Okay, alright. I can do this. You can do this. WEEE CAN DO THIS!" Piper than started to rant in French, which Jason did not know she was fluent in. He looked at her dumbfounded as she started rambling on and on about who knows what, until she finally realized the look he was giving her.

"What?" He shook his head and then asked, "What were you saying? You were kind sorta talking in a different language." She rolled her eyes and then started to say, as if it was obvious, "I was saying the plan, you dumbass. Get it together, Grace if you want to win Reyna, you've gotta get'cha head in the game!" He smirked and replied, "My heads in the game but my hearts in the song, McLean." **(if you get this** **reference drop a review saying: I want fabulous!)** Her mouth turned into an O as she realized what she said, but not replying back with some more lyrics, "Does she make this feel right? Should you go for it?" He chuckled and said in return, "I better shake it." In return she started to laugh hysterically, making Jason smile as he watched her laugh.

"Okay, for real though, Piper. What do you want me to do?" She started to breathe deeply to calm herself and then said, once she calmed down, "It'll be a lot of work, Grace. What do you say? You up for it?" He smirked his famous player smirk and replied easily, "I was born ready, McLean." But what he didn't know was that he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready at all.

* * *

Piper was sitting at lunch across from Reyna, Annabeth was working with the school's debate team, since she was the president of the them. Reyna ate a fry and looked at Piper weirdly before saying, "Okay, what's on your mind? You've been giving me these weird looks these last few classes. Especially right now." She hadn't realized she was staring at Reyna all day, but now looking back at the day after talking with Jason, she had been planning everything that she needed him to do. "Oh! Um, well, I dunno, I've just been thinking lately, and I wanted to ask you about something, particularly a someone," Piper took a bite out of her peanut butter sandwich as she paused to see Reyna's reaction.

Reyna just nodded her head politely, waiting for Piper continue, "Um, well, I wanted to ask you about... Jason." Reyna looked surprised at the mention of his name, but then a sly smirk appeared on her face and she asked, "Why? Do you like him, McLean?" She moved her eyebrows up and down suggestively as she ate another fry and Piper had a look of disgust on her face and she practically shouted, "Oh my god, Reyna! Why would you think that? He's like the stupid brother I never had!" she then said a little more normally, "I just wanted to know you're history with him. Annabeth mentioned that you guys used to be best friends," taking another nervous bite out of her delicious sandwich.

People around them looked at her weirdly and in return she flipped the birdy, which made them put their attention back to their own lunches. Reyna seemed a little more quiet at the mention of their history, so Piper jumped in quickly saying, "Not that you need to. I was just curious, but feel free to change the subject, I'll play along. Here: So, how's the weather today? What's your favorite tv show?" She continued on to talk about random things until Reyna raised her hand, with another fry in it, seriously she was OBSESSED WITH FRIES, to quiet down Piper before she said, "No, it's fine. I just, I dunno, it's a pretty sore subject on what happened, and I'm still not comfortable talking about it, if that's okay with you." Piper nodded and understood, the two stayed quiet for a couple of seconds just eating their lunches, before Piper changed the subject and the two began talking about the best cake to eat at midnight.

 **-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSEOOOOOOALITTLETIMELAPSE-**

Piper had just walked out of World History before she was bombarded by two idiots that took the names of Leo and Jason. "Hey, Beauty Queen! You wanna shoot some hoops with us?" She shrugged in response, making Jason whine and say, "Come on Piper! It'll be fun, or are you scared you're going to get your ass whooped by us." After he said this the two boys stopped walking and decided it was the right time to show off their muscles. Leo showed off his biceps, as well as Jason. They started to compare gun sizes as Piper rolled her eyes and replied back, "Obviously, it's your asses that are going to get whooped, I just don't want to spend a good afternoon with you two idiots."

They pretended to be shocked and offended and decided to make a group hug with all three of them, with Piper in the middle. They squeezed her tightly, Jason swinging the other two around, making her whine and say, "UGHHHH! Guys, get off me! Fine I'll do it, I'll play hoops with you guys, okay? Just get off me!" They released from the hug, but not before Jason correcting her by saying, "It's SHOOT hoops McLean, get it right!" She rolled her eyes and flipped him the birdy before walking away.

"Hey, where are you going, Señorita?" Leo shouted, she said back, "Towards the gym, yah dumbo!" He laughed and shouted back before she opened the doors to the stair well, "Um, Beauty Queen?" She looked back at him, gesturing for him to continue, "The gym's that way," he pointed the other way, as she cursed under her breath. Jason started laughing hysterically as she started to go the other way. "Hehehehe, it's SO HILARIOUS that I didn't know where the gym was, yeah, hysterical," Piper said sarcastically in the deepest voice she could, which made Jason laugh harder and make Leo crack a wide grin.

The three went down the stairs, towards the gym. They talked about random things like which High School Musical movie was the best and which boy would be a better Troy Bolton. They got to the gym, the two boys separating from Piper to go change. Piper changed out of her ripped jeans and orange tank top into an old Fall Out Boy t-shirt and some black running shorts. She went out to find Jason and Leo already outside.

Jason was wearing black basketball shorts and a purple tank top, which complimented his eyes, while Leo wore a black tank top with orange and red flames on his basketball shorts, making his brown curls look darker. "I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR SHORTS LEO!" Piper screamed the loudest she could, and he winked at her before slinging an arm around her shoulders as Jason entered the gym, getting the basketballs from a gym closet.

"Pass me a ball, Grace!" she shouted, he threw her a ball and Piper caught it before it bounced on the floor. "Nice catch, Pipes," Leo said before stealing the ball from her. She tried to steal it back, but she couldn't since he bounced the ball so much. Just as he was about to shoot the ball, Jason stole the ball from Leo's hands and bounced it to the other end of the court, and making a dunk in the hoop. He raised his hands in the air, in victory as Piper and Leo both rolled their eyes in unison.

Leo coughed loudly while saying, "Show off!" Piper than coughed back in reply, "Douche bag!" Jason then coughed and said, "Sore Losers!" They all laughed, and continued their game of three against three. **(hopefully that makes sense :))** The score being Jason:7, Leo: 6.5, and Piper a solid 35. "UGHHH, McLean! Why didn't you tell us that you when you were younger you were practically raised by NBA players?" Jason asked from inside the bathroom. "You never asked," Piper said simply with a smirk on her face. "WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD INFORMATION BEFORE WE AGREED ON THE BET!" Leo shouted from the inside the bathroom as well.

They both walked out in nothing but ladies' lingerie. Jason had purple lace underwear on and a bright blue bra on and Leo had bright red lace underwear and a hot pink bra on. Piper was trying to hold in her laughs, but she couldn't help it but roll on the floor. The two boys rolled their eyes and asked, "How long do we have to keep this up?" She said through her laughs, "Until... I... Say... So," she continued to laugh, clutching her stomach. She told them to get in her black Jeep, so they could show off their amazing sense of fashion to the world. They rolled their eyes and once they realized where they were going they protested very loudly. With cuss words. Yeah.

Piper parked at the mall parking lot and once she extinguished the engine, started to laugh again. "Oh man, this is gonna be amazing! Come one Leolette and Jasmine! Let's go shopping!" They grudgingly got out of the car and walked inside the mall. Piper lead the group through the mall for 2 hours straight. The boys received wolf whistles and gestures like; 'Call me' and 'Look at dat booty!' It was the most agonizing 2 hours of the boys' lives, it was the best of Piper's. She was having a blast. She probably put them on her Snapchat story 1,000 times and tweeted and posted on Instagram about 40.

They returned back into her Jeep, and Piper gave the boys back their clothes. They started to change out of the lingerie, leaving the underwear on and just sliding their boxers on top. "We are so getting you back for this McLean," they both said in unison, she just rolled her eyes and smirked as she started her car. She drove them home, dropping off Leo first. Piper wolf whistled for the last time, which in return she received the birdy by both hands and a not so good nickname. She laughed and drove Jason back home.

"So, what's the plan with Reyna?" Jason asked. Piper sighed and said back, "I need more time, give me until Saturday alright? That gives you 3 more days to come up with your own plan." He nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence. Jason broke the silence by saying, "Hey Piper?" "Hmm?" "You are such an ass." She snorted and he continued by saying, "But your a good friend of an ass." "Thanks, I guess?" she said back unsurely and Jason opened up his Music app on his phone and started to play High School Musical. They jammed out until they arrived to his house.

"Uhm, so, thanks for the ride." "No prob, man. Now go home!" She shoved him out of the car as he laughed. She pulled out of the driveway as he waved goodbye.

* * *

 _A/N: K So I hope you liked this chapter! I like the ending part most of all, but I also loved the beginning to, I think this is one of my favorite chapters I've written so far._

 _Also: shout out to my guy best friend that sings High School Musical with me in class. We literally start singing it in the most random times and I love HSM SO SO SO MUCH so you'll be seeing a ton of HSM references and just old disney references like Hannah Montana and other stuff like z_ _at :D_

 _K hope you enjoyeedddd! Leave a review to tell me what you thought and also favorite/follow if you're enjoying it so far! it's just the beginning!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper :D_**

 _(also, thank you so much for_ _your support, it's so amazing to me that people in this world actually like this story :) 3)_


	7. Uncovered and A Challenge

_sorry for this late update, I know, I'm horrible_

 _all of your reviews are so incredibly nice, so thank u all so so much :)_

 _(also to the guest that recommended on what should happen in the story: that's actually what I've been planning on doing with this story since the beginning! so yeah!)_

 _disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

AP World History was a bust for Jason. Reyna sat across the room from him and she barely even blinked at him, let alone talk to him. He was trying to put together a plan to show Piper that he could handle getting a girl like Reyna, but obviously that wasn't going to happen. He tried to catch up with her when the bell rang, but the encounter went like this:

"Hey, Reyna! Did you get the homework?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Oh I was just wondering if you could tell me, I couldn't catch what he said."

"Really? I saw you write down the homework even before he started saying the instructions." Busted.

"Oh! That? Yeah, um I was just, um, doodling! Yeah! I'm a big doodler." Totally saved.

"Um, that's great Jason, so I'll see you around?" Or not.

With a defeated sigh, he said in return, "Um, yeah! Cool, see ya!" Yeah, better luck next time.

Jason was busy now working on his homework that he didn't even notice Leo sitting on the other end of the table in the courtyard. Jason looked up to see Leo staring at another girl across the pathway leading people from inside the school, to the outside. Jason looked over and saw her, she had soft cocoa brown eyes and was laughing at something her friend, Rachel he thought her name was, said. Leo sighed sadly, turning his attention back towards Jason, his facing turning back to his normal self, carefree and smooth.

"What's up, bro?" Leo asked, as if the events that had just happened never did. Jason was surprised at how Leo quickly changed his mood, fitting his mood into who the people around him were. His surprise must have shown because Leo looked at him weirdly, but Jason tried to save himself by saying, "Oh, um, sorry, i was just thinking about something else. So, Calypso, huh?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively towards his friend, but also hoping he got her name right. Leo groaned and answered back with the same look he had when he was looking at her, "I don't know man. I just, I don't know, I guess she's just different. And I know I've said that ten billion times before with all the other girls I hit on, but she's something. I have her in Music and her voice, is just like, it makes me want to melt." He confesses this with a small smile on his face growing.

Jason whistles and says, "Wow. You're that far into it, huh?" Leo nods miserably and puts his head in between his crossed arms on the table and then mumbles with his head down, "What am I going to do? She doesn't like guys like me, she likes guys like you and Percy!" Jason scoffs and says back sarcastically, "Yeah, how could she like a guy with a great sense of humor and who's one of the stars of the basketball team? She totally wouldn't fall for you." He groans and says to himself as he lifts his head, "You really don't get it, do you?" Jason shakes his head, confused with the look Leo had on his face, like he didn't believe a word Jason had just said. "Jason, no girl wants me. I'm a nobody compared to you and Percy. You guys are like the gods of this school, and I'm a puny mortal." Jason stayed silent after this, in which case Leo decided to leave.

So Leo left, following the path towards the school and opening up the door. He left Jason to think about how clueless he had been about his own best friend. Who did Jason not realized? Here he and Percy was competing in who could date the most girls, where Leo wasn't even confident about himself. Which Leo should be, he is hilarious and fun to be around, any girl in their right mind would be lining up for Leo, but the problem was: they weren't. But Jason had a plan to change that.

* * *

The fact that Piper and Leo sat next to each other in Chemistry class was bad enough, but that they were doing a lab experiment together was worse. Their regular Chemistry teacher was absent today so the school Vice Principle, Mr. Dionysius or Mr. D, was substituting. He was the worst Vice Principle anyone has ever met. He could care less about the students and he could even care more less on what happened to them. The only thing he did care about was annoying the crap out of the students he hated the most, aka the ones who got in Detention, so Percy Jackson.

Piper had been mixing two liquids, the blue one and sparkly orange one, and the mixture had created it to bubble up. Leo clapped his hands like a five year old and picked up a purple one excitedly, and mixed it in as well. The mixture made a boom sound, which caused Mr. D to wake up from his placement at the desk in the front of the room.

His feet that laid on the desk suddenly went to the ground and he screamed "Bingo!" loudly as his comic book he was reading fell to the floor as well. Everyone laughed, but Mr. D's eyes landed on a boy in the back of the room who wasn't paying attention at all.

"Johnson!" Percy looked up, startled, from a sketchbook. Piper didn't know what the sketch was, all she knew was that he had been working on it and staring at it the whole entire class period. "Perry, how many times do I have to catch you not paying attention in class, for you to understand that I hate staying late after school with you?" Percy looked at him confused and answered back in what was more of a question, "Um, 100?" The whole class chuckled, except for Annabeth she had earbuds in and was oblivious to the conversation.

Mr. D did an exasperated sigh and said to him, "Get up and move your stuff to the table over here." He pointed to the first table that was occupied by Luke Castellan, the quarterback of football, and Annabeth. Percy looked at him shocked and stayed at his seat, not wanting to go near Annabeth, who was currently dancing to _You Belong With Me_ by Taylor Swift. "Now, not 100 years later, Johnson," Mr. D said impatiently. "It's Jackson sir," Percy said, still not getting up.

Mr. D rolled his eyes and said again annoyed, "Do you think I care about you're name? Move. Now." Percy got up grudgingly from his seat in the back, stuffing his sketchbook inside his messenger bag and slinging it onto his left shoulder. Everyone's eyes were on him now. Luke got up as well, putting his Jansport back pack on his right and passed Percy, bumping his shoulder into the others while saying, "Don't even think about hurting her again."

Percy rolled his eyes and dropped his backpack to the floor and sat down as another song played in Annabeth's ears as she was standing up and pouring the next mixture in. The room was still silent until Leo and Piper's mixture mad another bang sound, which caused Leo to say, "Sorry, my bad," and jolting everyone else back to their own conversations.

"Hey, Luke, can you pass me the turquoise liquid?" Percy nervously tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to say, "What now? I was in the middle of listening to High School," she stopped talking as her gray eyes met with his sea-green ones. Percy smirked and asked, "So, still into the classic HSM, huh?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes and replied, "What are you doing here, Jackson? I thought Luke was my lab partner." Percy nodded towards Mr. D as Piper walked up to the couple that wasn't a couple.

"Hey, guys! You all hear about the basketball game tonight?" Percy nodded his head confused as Annabeth went back to her experiment. Piper tried to get both of their attention again by saying, "Yeah, Jason and Leo can't stop talking about it. Annabeth, you can shoot some hoops, right?" She peeled her eyes away from the turquoise liquid she was holding and said quietly, "I mean, I guess so."

Percy grinned up at her and asked,"No way, Ms. I-don't-have-time-to-hang-out-I'm-studying-for-a-test can actually shoot a hoop?" "Is that a challenge, Jackson?" Annabeth asked with a knowing smirk, he nodded and reached out his hand for a handshake. Annabeth accepted it, leaving Piper with a satisfied smile.

* * *

 _This was such a short chapter, but I promise I'll post one either tomorrow or the day after that SO DONT WORRY I PROMISE I WILL NOT NOT FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THIS_

 _Also, I think my fav HSM movie is all of them, BECAUSE I CANT CHOOSE so yeah XD_

 _anyways, I'm sorry if you didn't like this chap, but I really wanted to post this and get onto the next one :)_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper ;)_**


	8. Some Pointers

_yup, it's official, I am the world's worst author. Not only is this going up late, but this chapter will most likely suck, but you can be the judge of that_

 _(but thank you to all of your lovely and amazing reviews, they always make me smile when I read em)_

 _disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are all Rick Riordan's and I also don't own How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

"Percy, pass!" Jason shouted towards the running, green-eyed boy. They were playing two-on-two against Annabeth and Piper, with Leo and Reyna as score keepers. Percy threw the ball towards the blonde, but Piper had jumped and smacked it towards Annabeth, who bounced it towards their hoop on the opposite side of the court to make a score.

She slam dunked it into the net, receiving a high five by Piper and leaving Jason and Percy bending down, catching their breath. Leo grabbed his silver whistle and called half-time and announcing the scores: Annabeth 7 and Percy: 5. The girls whooped and got high fives by Reyna, while Leo offered the two boys a two bottles of water.

They accepted the bottles gratefully and as Percy gulped down the water, Jason lifted up his orange tank top to his forehead to wipe sweat off. He caught Piper staring, so he called out suggestively while pointing to his abs, which he wasn't afraid to show off, "What's up, McLean? Want some of this?" She rolled her eyes and called back, "Only in your dreams, Grace!"

Percy then got Jason's attention back from the brunette by saying, "What are we going to do, man? It's really close right now." Jason shrugged and answered back, "It's not my fault that you were stupid enough to challenge Annabeth, Perce." Percy shrugged and remained silent, making Leo distinguish the silence. "You know, if you guys actually talked to each other and making use of this half-time, you might actually have a chance."

The two looked at him and ushered for him to continue, "You guys need to look at your strengths and weaknesses, and make sure to use teamwork. You guys are great players, but you get to cocky with the game. You need to be able to give up the ball when you know you can't do it." Leo continued to talk about how Jason and Percy could improve their game. Jason was shocked that Leo had so much knowledge about basketball, not that he didn't listen or that he was a horrible player, but he didn't think of Leo as the type to coach people. But he was great at it.

By the time they were back on the court playing, Jason found himself listening to Leo's pointers in his mind, getting at the edge of the court because he always shot better there, giving Percy the ball whenever a dunk was involved, and using Piper's shortness, compared to his own height, was always used. He also noticed that Percy was using Leo's pointers as well and they found themselves, at the last few seconds on the clock, in the lead by a point or two.

"Jason, I'm open, pass!" He passed it to Percy, who was already bounding towards the opposite hoop and shooting a three pointer, just as Jason, Annabeth, and Piper had arrived. Leo blew his whistle and shouted, "Time! Y'all are finished! Final score: Annabeth: 28 and Percy: 32!" The boys whooped and high-fived, while the girls shrugged and high-fived each other saying better luck next time.

Percy shook hands with Annabeth as she told him something, making him smile widely. Jason tried to hug Piper, meaning he tried to rub all of his sweat onto her, which resulted into her shrieking and moving away. Jason hugged Leo instead, in which Leo obliged and hugged him back as Piper yelled, "Bromance for the win, AMIRIGHT LADIES!" Reyna laughed beside Piper as she watched the bromance spectacle and Jason smiled sheepishly at her mouthing, "Can we talk?" Her face tightened a bit, but nodded nevertheless.

Leo was the one to break out of the hug, patting Jason on the back and left to go to the bathroom saying, "It was fun hugging you, but I've needed to pee ever since the first quarter." Jason laughed and Piper approached offering her hand out as a handshake. She said, "I never said good game, so, good game. How did you both improve so quickly? The second half was the best I've ever seen you play." He looked at her and said loudly, 'Piper McLean, you have only seen me play twice! And this was the second time, so don't go running saying your an expert on how I play." She chuckled and answered, "Yeah, but I never thought you were good, so you've improved in my head." He rolled his eyes and smiled as she left to talk with Annabeth and Reyna.

It didn't even look like Piper had broken a sweat, her tiny braids were still perfect and her cheeks were still the natural pink that they always were. She wore black running shorts and a teal tank top that showed her gray sports bra, not that Jason was looking or anything, he simply noticed it just now, at least that's what he told himself. "Hey, Jason?" Reyna asked, Jason got out of his trance, surprised that he hadn't noticed Reyna moving away from the group of girls.

"Oh, Reyna! Hey, sorry I didn't see you there," she nodded, looking at him expectantly to tell her what he wanted to talk to her about. "Yeah, um, well, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something like that? Like study at Starbucks or something casual?" She looked at him, but he couldn't tell what expression she was feeling right now.

"Jason, your a cool guy and we've known each other for a really long time, but that also means I know you, well the old you. And the new you would do the exact opposite of the old you, if that makes sense. So we both know this isn't something 'casual'. Nothing's just casual with you anymore when it comes to a girl." Jason tilted his head, he didn't know what she meant. He spent plenty of casual time with girls: Annabeth, Piper, his neighborhood friend Hazel, and his sister Thalia. But before he could correct her, she continued saying, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I'm not really ready to just be your friend right now, I'm really sorry." She walked away, leaving Jason speechless and alone in the gym, since Piper and Annabeth had already left.

* * *

"I need your advice," Piper said suddenly during lunch, scaring the other two girls. "Which eyebrow is longer? I wanted to name them, but before I picked out their names I wanted to make sure that the longer one had the longer name." Reyna and Annabeth both rolled their eyes and Piper asked pretending to be offended, "What? This is a valid question in Facelandia." "And what's Facelandia, Piper?" Reyna asked, amused. Piper huffed and answered, "Well for your information, it is for the land of beautiful faces, but you two wouldn't know anyway, since you're not a part of it." The girls looked at the brunette with a look that said 'Get real' and she said quickly, "Come on guys, I was kidding. You're on the waiting list." Annabeth took one of Reyna's fries and threw it at Piper, who caught it in her mouth. "Hey! I never said that you could throw that fry at Piper!" She then stuffed the remaining fries down her throat.

While she was chomping on the fries she said, "But, I think it's the right eyebrow if you needed to know." Annabeth looked at her shocked and said, "Don't talk with your mouth open, you know I hate it! And totally not, it's definitely her left eyebrow!" The two girls started to bicker and Piper decided it would be a good time to switch out Annabeth's cookies with her own carrot sticks. Annabeth continued on fighting for Piper's left eyebrow and reached down and chomped a carrot stick, not noticing that it was supposed to be a chocolate chip cookie.

Jason approached just as Annabeth was about to throw a carrot stick at Reyna after her speech for the right eyebrow. He grabbed the carrot out of her hand and chomped on it easily, as she glared at him and asking furiously, "What do you think you're doing, Jason? I was just about to through that at this idiot!" she pointed to Reyna as she looked at him. He chuckled and asked with his mouth full of carrot stick, "What were you guys fighting about, anyway? I could hear you guys as I entered the gym." Before Annabeth could say anything Piper said, with a cookie in her hand, "It's my fault! I asked them what eyebrow of mine was longer and they got into a heated conversation. And also, don't eat with your mouth full, Annabeth HATES it."

Annabeth looked at Piper, then Piper's hand, then Piper's lunch on the table and realization struck her face. "Hey! Piper, you took my cookies!" but before Annabeth could take back what was rightfully hers, Piper shoved the cookie down her throat and said with her mouth full, "Sorry Beth, not my fault you didn't realize it." Annabeth did an internal screamed and said calmly," Piper, don't talk with your mouth open." Jason laughed and reached into the paper bag that held his lunch and gave Annabeth his Klondike bar. She looked at him surprised and asked if he was sure, he nodded and she took it out of his hands before Piper could do anything.

She chomped it happily as she got the rest of the trash on their table to throw out. She left with Reyna carrying both of their backpacks, they asked Piper if she was ready but she was still finishing her blueberry yogurt. She was happily scooping up the blobs of yogurt as Jason started to say, "So, I talked to Reyna." Piper groaned and asked, "How bad was it?" He shrugged and answered, "Not as bad as you would've thought. She just said that she didn't want to be friends with me," he paused and looked at Piper, who gave him a knowing look, and he continued saying, "Okay, now that I say it out loud it sounds really bad." "Ya think?"

He puts his head down on top of the table where his arms were and says loudly, "What am I going to do?" She says as she swallows another bit of yogurt, "Just find another girl, I'm sure there are, what do you guys say? A lot of clouds in the sky? Well, something like that." Jason put his head up and chuckled as he corrected her, "It's fish, there are tons of fish in the sea." "Well not with all of the fishing by us humans there aren't. I like mine better," Jason rolled his eyes and watched her as she searched her almost finished yogurt for a blueberry bit.

"But, even if I wanted to choose another girl, I can't. I've literally dated all the girls I can. The ones that Percy hasn't, I mean." Piper looked up from her yogurt, confused and said, "Hey, player! You haven't dated me, ya stupid idiot." He snorted and said, "I haven't, but I bet a ton of guys will," he then pointed out a ton of guys that were checking her out, even with yogurt on her face. She rolled her eyes and then said, "Kay, so your only options are me and Reyna," she paused and they said together, "Reyna." So it was settled, tomorrow morning they would start the makeover of turning Jason into the dream guy of Reyna's. It was easy. Well, maybe not.

* * *

 _So shout out to my guy friends that are obsessed with food, y'all were my inspiration for the lunch scene ;)_

 _Kay, hope you guys enjoyed, I kind of liked how this turned out and I'm sorry for not updating last week_

 _Give this a like, a review, or a favorite if you want to show this story some love!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	9. Getting Started

_disclaimer: I don't own these characters, their Rick Riordan's and I also don't own How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

It was a Saturday, god bless Saturdays. Jason loved the fact that he could sleep in, not worry about homework, since he had done it the day before, and that he didn't have to talk to anyone at all today. This day was just his day. Or so he thought.

He groggily woke up to the sound of his cell phone, "This is gonna be the best day of my life, my liiiiiiife." He hit the decline button, but his phone continued on vibrating and ringing, so he picked up with a sleepy, yet snappy, "What do you want?" The voice over the phone chuckled and the person spoke in a familiar voice, "Well, Grace, good morning to you to." He rolled his eyes and groaned saying, "What do you want McLean?" With her voice still sounding amused, she said, "It's Saturday, Jason." "Yeah, I know it is. That's why I shouldn't be up at," he looked at his lock screen and groaned, "Ugh, Piper! 7:02? Really? It's SATURDAY." He could practically hear her eyes roll before she replied, "Yeah, it's Saturday. Our meeting? Consultation? Training? Remember Mr. I-don't-need-to-write-this-down-I've-got-amazing-memory." He groaned for what seemed like the 100th time and said, "Yes, I remembered Ms. McLean, but I didn't expect you to wake me up at 7:02 in the morning." "Well, too late, Grace. I'm outside."

He groaned and flopped back onto his pillow and stayed there for a few minutes. After a few amazing minutes of sleep, Jason heard his sister, Thalia, yell, "Jason! There's a really pretty girl here who claims to say that you two are only friends! You have friends? That are girls?" He could hear Piper laugh downstairs, and he smiled to himself. Then, he heard footsteps going up the stairs and straight towards his room. He thought it would be Thalia, but was corrected when he felt Piper jump onto his bed and start to say, "So, here's the thing."

* * *

Jason laughed and asked, "What, no hello?" She gave him a look as he started to get up from his bed, putting a blue v-neck on. She continued by saying, "I think Reyna may like you. But, her being Reyna, she's bound to deny it." She picked up his silver iPhone 6, opened up his Instagram, and started liking a ton of photos on his feed. "You know, if you would have at least texted me a few times instead of calling me, I wouldn't be as mad at you right now," Jason said to Piper in the bathroom changing into a pair of jeans.

"You don't seem mad to me," Piper said with her head down, as she looked at Reyna's Instagram profile. He chuckled to himself and retorted back, "Yeah, wait until you ask for food from me." She groaned and chucked a pillow at him as he walked out of the bathroom, now fully dressed with a blue v-neck, worn out jeans, a silver dog tag hanging from his neck, and his tattoo his dad made him get showing on his arm that said SPQR. He caught the pillow and slapped her face with it, shortly after, he bolted out of his room and started to run down the stairs. Piper shouted a few unmentionable words, and she bolted down the stairs to catch up with him.

She was about to catch him, but instead she bumped into a towering figure. "Hey! Watch," her voice trailed out as she saw that the person she bumped into wasn't Jason as she expected, it was his father Zeus Grace. "Oh, um, sorry, Mr. Grace." He smiled at her gently and said, with his voice booming, "It's perfectly fine, Piper," he smoothed down his gray suit he was wearing and continued saying, "Well, I should be on my way. I got to get to the office. Bye, Jason! Thalia!" The two mentioned people shouted good byes and Zeus smiled at Piper again and whispered, "Don't do anything bad now," Piper looked up at him confused, then suddenly realization glazed over her eyes. Before she could say anything to correct him, he gave her a wink and walked out of the door, leaving her with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, what took you so long, slow poke?" Jason asked and poked her near the belly button. She smacked his finger and her expression changed into her regular, go with the flow matter. "Oh, nothing. I was just talking to your dad." His grin faltered, but then changed back a millisecond later, like nothing happened. "Well, aren't you gonna have breakfast or what?" "Or what," Piper said cheekily then explained, "I already had it with my dad."

Jason turned around and started walking away, "Ah, the mystery father that you refuse to tell any of us. Not even Leo or Annabeth." He turned around suddenly and had a smirk on his face, "But I know!" Her face turned from smugness to shock and started to run to him, but his instinct was quicker and started to run as well. He hid behind a wall, and when she flew by it, he caught her by the stomach and spun her around. She yelled, "Jason, put me down! Argh! We need to start!" He then threw her on the couch, left her lying there, and went toward the fridge, since his living room opened up towards it.

He yelled towards her, "I need to eat before I learn!" he then groaned and screamed towards his sister Thalia who was in her office, "Thals! Where's the cheese?" She screamed back, "What cheese?" He yelled louder, "You know what cheese! The cheese I have been eating since the third grade! White cheddar, mixed with mozzarella, mixed with cheddar jack!" Piper laughed from her seat on the couch, now flipping through a magazine, "People actually make that?"

Jason retorted, "Yes, in fact they do, Ms. McLean. You're just sad enough to not try it." He continued to shovel his way to the back of his enormous fridge to find that his special cheese was not there. He resorted to waffles, strawberries, and chocolate syrup. Thalia walked into the kitchen and said towards Piper, "You should be glad you haven't tried it, it tastes disgusting. He just has blind tastebuds." Jason raised his hand to stop the conversation and asked, "Is there even such a think as blind tastebuds?" "Yes, and you have them," Piper answered as she walked over to the two siblings in the kitchen. She stole a strawberry from Jason's waffles, in return he flipped the bird and said a not so good nickname, as he stuffed his face with the remaining of his waffles.

 **-LOOKATMEIMALITTLELINEBREAKINABIGWORLD-**

"Okay, pretend I'm Reyna," Piper announced as she sat on the grass in Jason's backyard. He closed the door from his house as he walked out and said, "Yeah, ok. Hey, Reyna what different eyes you have. What different hair style you have. Did you get a face transplant, because you look awfully look alike to my friend Piper." She rolled her eyes at him and got up from her cozy seat on the grass and said, "I said pretend, dumbass." "Don't expect me to do things that isn't possible, you know I can't act."

She rolled her eyes again and sat on the swing in his backyard, the Grace backyard was humongous. "Okay, fine, we'll start with baby steps." She got up and pushed Jason to the ground and told him to sit on the floor, teacher Piper was now in session. "So, there are a ton of personality traits that Reyna could be turned off from," she said walking back and forth while she spoke. Jason interrupted and said, "Hey!" She continued, ignoring the remark and kept on going, "But don't worry, they're all fixable. First, you have terrible manners. Then, you also have an enormous ego, and not to mention the lack of politeness that you carry." He interrupted again with a bunch of 'Hey!'s as she rattled on, stating all of his flaws and turn offs.

"But, I can see how she still likes you nonetheless," Piper said. Jason was taken aback by this comment and listened as she continued, "You're pretty funny and still maintain good grades. Also, even though your ego is as big as the universe, you still know everyone and don't act annoyed at them when they approach you. Plus, you're a pretty good leader," Piper paused as she saw Jason's expression on his face. He raised his eyebrows suggestively and said jokingly, "Falling for me, are you, McLean?" She rolled her eyes and turned away from him and said, "Oh, shut up! You wish, Grace." He laughed from behind her, not being able to see the look on her face that showed that she didn't know if she was telling the whole truth on what she had just stated.

She shook off her nerves and turned around and started, "Kay, so, what do you want to work on first?" He shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter to me, your pick." She thought through in her mind and smirked at her choice, "Okay, how about first impressions?"

* * *

 _(see, this is where I would end the chapter, but seeing as I'm a horrible updater, imma b nice to y'all and continue on)_

* * *

Piper brought him to a local diner, which only locals knew about, you know, with this being NYC of course. Jason groaned and said to his friend, "Pipes do we have to do this? I have a pretty good first impression don't I?" She laughed at that and shook her head as she said, "You have a horrible first impression, even when I saw you on the first day I knew you would be a dick, turns out you're only half a dick."

He stuck his tongue out and drank his chocolate milkshake that he had ordered. The two had both ordered food, since it was already lunchtime. While they had waited for their food, Piper picked out a girl that Jason would approach as practice. She was a brunette who wore an oversized maroon sweater with leggings and worn in brown boots. Jason had only agreed since she kind of reminded him of a certain brunette that sat in front of him, he didn't tell her that of course, though.

She ate two fries at once and nodded to the mentioned stranger who looked like she was about to finish the coffee she was drinking and also the book that she was reading, the title read _The 5th Wave_ **(I adored this book & I hope the movie is going to be a good adaptation to the masterpiece of the book)**.

He sighed and walked up to her, "Hey, is that book good?" The girl looked up from her book, Jason had a good look at her, now that she was up close. Her eyes were hazel and her face was dotted ever so often with freckles. She nodded, probably scared that Jason was a rapist, because what hot guy would approach a girl who was reading? Jason smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna jump you or anything." She opened her mouth for the first time and her words came out surprisingly smooth and confident, "I wasn't scared, you just don't look like the reading type." After that, she gulped down the remaining of her coffee, closed her book, said goodbye to him, and went out the door, like it was some routine of hers.

Jason stood there dumbfounded and returned back to the table slowly. Piper was trying to hold in her laughter, but once Jason looked at her, she bursted like a balloon that had too much helium inside of it. She then started to say, "REJECTED, REJECTED! YEAH YOU JUST GOT REJECTED! R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D REJECTED! **(of you got the reference review and say, "the ten year message killed me!" because it actually killed me.)** "HA HA HA, very mature Piper." She wiped a tear away from her eyes and said as he began to shove a burger into his mouth, "I told you, your first impressions are solo horrible. We need to start working." "This is gonna be a lot harder than I though it would be." Piper's eyes sparkled as she finished the last of her fries, "Isn't everything for everyone?"

* * *

They were back in Jason's backyard, it was starting to get dark, with a sunset coming up in about 30 minutes. "Alright, your first mistake was going straight up to her." Jason said back confused as he laid on his stomach in the grass, "How else am i supposed to approach a girl?" Piper rolled her eyes and thought, boys are probably the most clueless animals on the planet, and explained, "You need to pretend that you weren't trying to approach her. Here: let's role play, you're the girl and I'm a guy who actually knows how to flirt, okay?" Jason grudgingly agreed to this and got up from his comfortable position on the ground and sat on his butt. Piper walked away from him and told him to pretend that he didn't know that she was there. He agreed to it, he thought that this was pointless, and went on his phone to answer some of his unopened snapchats.

Before he knew it, Piper was a few feet away from him, on her own phone. He looked over to her, she looked over at him, their eyes linked and she moved closer. He stayed where he was, curious in what she would do next. She said, "Hey, I'm Phil." He laughed, she gave him a look that said 'Just go with it,' he stopped laughing and said in an over the top high pitched voice, "I'm Janika." "So, you from here?" Piper said gamely, like she was ready for any curveball that was thrown her way. Jason shook his head and answered in the same high pitched voice, "No, I moved from Florida." Piper nodded and said, "Hey, have you seen that new movie about the teens? The title had something about trials, but when I went to watch it, there were no trials." Jason shook his head, but Piper was already onto the next thing she was about to say, "Well, I've gotta go. Oh! Do you have an Insta or Twitter?" He was shocked, man she was good. He nodded his head and she said, "Perfect, can I see it?"

She then got out of character as Jason was about to pull up his own Instagram account and said, "See what I mean now?" "How did you do that? How did you learn how to flirt and pretend so easily?" he asked her in a confused manner. She shrugged and answered, "Runs in the family," she was about to continue but shut her mouth, as if she said something that wasn't supposed to be said. She then changed the subject quickly and said, "Do you see what I mean though? You need to act like you were never going to actually flirt with the person, like it was just life playing out on it's own?" Jason nodded, even though he was still confused in the quick change of subject.

Piper then got up gamely, Jason asked, "What are we doing now?" "We're going to go and have some more practice, but this time in a different setting." "Where?" "A party."

* * *

 _yup, I'm sorry about not updating last week, or even the week before I think, I don't even no anymore! k, it's official I can't even spell know anymore, someone call the hospital! (not literally)_

 _anyways, tell me your thoughts on this chapter! I hope you liked it! (and again, thank you for your continuos support by reading this little story in the big world of_ _fan fiction)_

 _OH AND ALSO MAGNUS CHASE AND RICK'S NEW ROMAN SERIES OHMAHGURD I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED FOR ANYTHING BEFORE IN MY LIFE, well except for BoO, but yaknow_

 _k, bye :)_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	10. She's A Little Desperate

_I wasn't planning on writing right now, but I saw that I haven't updated and I was on my bed reading Magnus Chase so if this chapter sucks, blame it on Magnus because Rick is a freakin god in his new book._

 _disclaimer: I don't own these wonderful, spectacular character, that's all Rick Riordan and also don't own How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

Monday morning was a drag for Piper. She had missed her dad when he was leaving for LA to film another movie, her mom's cellphone went to voicemail when she tried to call, and her new Monday schedule meant that she didn't have any classes with her friends except homeroom, and that was only a few minutes. It was the period before lunch now, and Piper was counting down the minutes until she could reunite with at least two of her friends.

"Ugh, look what the dumpster dragged in." Piper rolled her eyes at the person's voice she overheard from behind her. She turned around and replied snappily back, "What do you want Drew?" Drew looked at her snidely and replied as she looked at her perfect cuticles, "Oh, nothing. I've just noticed that you've just been spending _a lot_ of time with Superstar Blonde, that's all." Piper looked at her questioningly and thought, _What the hell is she talking about?_

Drew saw the look she had and explained as if Piper should have known what she was talking about, "Jason? Jason Grace? Primo boy at this school?" Piper made a shape of an O with her mouth, then realized what Drew was implying. "We're only friends Drew, have at him if you want." Drew rolled her eyes and answered back with an annoying tone in her voice, "Honey, it's not that easy. You see," Drew then started to talk in a baby voice for Piper to understand, "I'm Drew Tanaka. I shouldn't need to _fight_ for a boy. Plus," Drew smirked and continued, "I already slept with him, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything."

Piper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms then said, "I don't need to hear about your sex life, Drew. So, what do you need?" She chuckled to herself and gave Piper a snide smile, "Oh, I don't need anything from you, McLean. I just want you to know that if you even think about making a move on Jason, I will personally see to it that you will hate your life here in Goode." Piper rolled her eyes and walked away saying to herself, "Someone's a little bit jealous." Drew overheard and shouted back to her, "What did you say, McLean?" "Nothing, Drama Queen!"

They played volleyball during Phys. Ed., and Piper didn't want to be cocky, but she dominated the whole entire game. She even hit Drew in the head twice, which was a pretty good plus.

 **-TIMELAPSEDONTMINDMEIMJUSTALILTIMELAPSEHEHE-**

Piper flew into the lunchroom, desperate to find one of her friends and talk with an actual human being. She wasn't saying that Drew wasn't human, but let's face it, she wasn't. She also wasn't saying that anyone else she talked to this morning wasn't human either, she just got very bored with them easily.

She spotted Annabeth at their usual table, and she bolted, bumping into someone once she started. "Woah, there girl. Aren't you going to say hi to your bestie?" She looked at the person she was talking to, since she was picking up her book bag and pens. She sighed with relief to find Leo Valdez staring straight at her with his signature smirk. "Leo! Aren't you supposed to be in Mexico this week?"

Leo was supposed to be on a plane, on route to Mexico for a family reunion. This was the first one he was planing on going to in years, his mom died in a fire when he was little, and he's been afraid of his mom's side of the family since. Usually he stayed with his dad, Hephaestus, who was a billionaire from his business that worked with fire, glass, and all of that shiz. This year though, Hephaestus made Leo go since Leo hadn't seen his cousins, aunts, and grandmother in a long time. What his dad didn't know was that Leo never saw his mother's side because they had all accused him for starting the fire to kill his mom.

"Oh, ya know the usual. My dad totally spaced out about the flights and never booked me one, he said we could 'try again next year,' but I think we both knew that he meant that I shouldn't make an effort to see them until at least ten years later from now." Piper rolled her eyes and slipped her loose strap of her backpack onto her other shoulder, then asked, "So, Mr. Valdez, may I ask you why your in the cafeteria during _my_ lunch period?" He shrugged and showed her a note that his 'dad' typed, meaning that he forged it, it said that Leo needed at least two periods of lunch at least once a week, the office bought it, since his dad donated half a million dollars last year. Piper applauded him and pulled him over to the table that Annabeth and Reyna had been occupying for a long time now.

"Sup, chicas." Piper said as she sat into her seat next to Annabeth, it was blue and squeaky from being used to much. "Ugh, what's he doing here?" Reyna asked as she crinkled her nose at the sight of Leo sitting down next to her. "Awe, come on, Rey. You know you want some of this," Leo replied as he leaned close to Reyna teasingly and raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Piper laughed and stole a fry from Reyna as she wasn't looking. Annabeth saw this and looked at Piper in alarm. Piper put a finger to her lips and offered Annabeth some as well, since Reyna and Leo were now having a thumb wrestling contest. Reyna won in the end, but Leo put up a fight saying that he hadn't worked out his thumbs for the day, at which the rest of the group laughed at. Reyna looked at her fries and realized that she was down to one and a half fries left, what can Piper say? Reyna always had the best fries. "You know, the funniest thing happened," Reyna started, "I could've sworn I had a whole bowl full of french fries, and after one thumb war, I see that I have one fry left." Piper pointed out the half fry and Reyna screamed, "I'm not counting it! It's a freakin half a fry! It doesn't count!"

Reyna then got up and stomped away from their table, towards the end of the lunchline. She was most likely getting more french fries. "Sooo," Leo said, continuing the Os. Piper saw this opportunity to ask her friends a question that's been in the back of her mind since Drew told her something in Phys. Ed. "Hey, can I ask you guys a question?" Annabeth and Leo both nodded, the look on their faces showed that they looked intrigued at what their brunette of a friend was about to ask.

"Does it look like I like Jason?" Her friends looked at her weirdly, then suddenly bursted out laughing. Piper looked at them confused, she didn't understand what was so funny. Annabeth must have seen the look on her face, because in between her laughter she said, "Does," she laughed, "it," again, she laughed, "Look, like, oh gods, Leo?" She continued to laugh as Leo calmed down his laughter to only a few chuckles per second. He said, "Does it look like you like him? Oh gosh! It looks like both of you have been having a thing since last year!" Annabeth, who had stopped laughing, bursted out again.

She gripped the table, but still managed to fall on the floor, which cause Leo to fall on the floor, which caused everyone to look at them. Both Leo and Annabeth were holding each other in their arms now, laughing and giggling, gripping their stomachs. Leo kept on trying to calm down, but Annabeth kept trying to say what Piper had said a few seconds ago. This resulted into both of them clutching their stomachs and spazzing out on the floor.

Piper was still confused though. _Everyone thought that me and Jason were dating?_ Once she said that, she wondered what Reyna thought. _Crap! What if she thinks we're dating too?_ She had to tell Jason the next time they were going to do some training.

She looked at Annabeth and Leo, and noticed that they were now sitting criss cross applesauce on the floor. Leo was trying to hum down the laughter, and it worked. But only for two seconds, when he looked at Annabeth they both bursted out again. Reyna came towards them, with a new bowl of french fries. She was so busy smelling them, she never noticed Annabeth's arm, which was on the floor, right where she was about to step. Piper shouted, "Reyna!" The girl looked up at Piper and stepped right onto the blonde girls arm. She slipped and her fries flew behind her, as Annabeth screamed in pain.

It felt like that seen in High School Musical, when everyone was singing Stick to the Status Quo, and Gabriella's fries went into Sharpay's shirt, yep, Piper's life was now like High School Musical. She was defiantly living life to the fullest.

The whole turn of events, resulted into Leo peeing his pants, literally, which made Annabeth forget about the whole stepping on arm incident, but not Reyna. She was furious that her _second_ batch of french fries was now gone. She started saying that she was going to get revenge on all of them one day, and that her french fries would be avenged. To be honest, Piper thought if Jason and Reyna didn't work out, Reyna could always marry french fries. It was legal to marry foods in Vegas, right?

* * *

Jason missed all of the fun. While half of the group was eating lunch and having the time of their lives, he had to be lab partners with Drew Tanaka, his ex-grilfriend. She sat across the table from him, boy he just had an _amazing_ view.

"So, Jace. I was thinking that after this period, we could make something else explode, other than chemicals," **(a/n: oh my gosh i hate myself so much for actually writing that. I apologize if you don't get it, and i apologize if you do get it. WHY AM I WRITING)** her hand was going up and down Jason's bicep, and to say the least, he was kind of turned on right now. Kind of, he still liked someone else. "Drew, we broke up, remember?" She leaned in close and whispered, sending chills down Jason's spine, "Doesn't mean we can't rekindle just half of what we did for one class period."

Jason was pouring a blue mixture into the beaker, making smoke erupt in between the two. Drew took the hint, and walked away, talking to some other poor victim. He looked up and saw a girl. He remembered her, it was the girl Leo was into, Calypso. Jason finished his experiment, as his chemistry teacher was watching, and once he finished he went up to her.

"Hey, Calypso, right?" She looked up at him, goggles in her face and her caramel hair was tied up. She nodded, "So, you know my friend Leo right?" Jason asked. She nodded again, but this time was pouring in a purple mixture into the beaker, instead of looking at Jason. "Well, I think he needs a little bit of help on his Chemistry homework. Would you mind if you two met up with each other during study hall tomorrow?" Calypso looked like she was in another world, instead of listening to Jason, but she nodded nevertheless. Jason grinned, "Great, I'll tell him later," and left to sit back on his still.

 **-TIMELAPSEDONTMINDMEIMJUSTALILTIMELAPSEHEHE-**

Jason found Leo in the cafeteria, leaving with Piper. He looked at Piper for a split second, but then turned his attention to Leo. "Bro, I got you a kinda sorta date with Calypso!" Leo looked at him astonished and asked, "Really?! How?" Jason answered back smoothly, "I just asked her to help you out on some Chemistry homework, and she said yes!" Everyone in the group rolled their eyes at Jason, "What?" he asked. Piper answered him, "Leo doesn't take Chemistry, idiot."

Leo looked down, saddened, but Piper swung her arm around her friend and reassured to say, "No worries, blame the mix up on Jason and just work on different homework." Reyna added, "I'm sure she'll believe you, Jason is pretty stupid." He rolled his eyes, but he was happy that Reyna was finally acknowledging Jason's existence, all he had to do know is get her to actually liking him.

* * *

 _hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _Magnus Chase is solo good so far, I read the first chapter in the store and almost cried/threw up/danced because the one and only ANNABETH CHASE is in it._

 _Please no spoilers, in my PMs or the reviews, for everyone and also me._

 _Kay! Love Y'all_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	11. Who's Ready For Christmas?

_a/n: let me just kind of hide behind a rock for not updating in a few months, BUT YOUTUBE HAS BEEN CALLING ME AND I HAVENT READ ANY FANFIC IN A LONG TIME SO DONT KILL ME IF THIS CHAP TURNS OUT HORRIBLE_

 _k, read on_

 _disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds & also a shoutout to Stephanie Perkins's Isla and the Happily Ever After (I used one of her concepts that I really believe in in a line or two)_

* * *

A few weeks later...

"On, Dasher! We need to get to class then deliver more presents!" That was the first thing Jason heard on the first day back from Thanksgiving Break. He turned around and laughed to himself to see two of his best friends. The one and only Piper McLean was on Leo Valdez's back wearing a Santa hat, red top, cut off jean shorts, and knee high green socks. It would be crazy to think that Christmas wasn't her favorite holiday.

The two dashed past Jason into their homeroom class with Mr. Brunner. Jason followed them into the class, though not as quick. When he walked through the door he spotted Percy and Annabeth bickering about who's present was going to be better, Piper and Leo trash talking each other's presents, even though they haven't seen their own gifts themselves, and finally, Reyna sitting at her desk alone, writing in her notebook. Jason had been practicing with Piper each week, and he thought that he was ready to ask Reyna out, but Piper still thought he wasn't ready. So, Jason just decided to talk to Reyna, nothing else.

He walked up to her and scratched his neck awkwardly and said, "Hey."

She looked up from her notebook and nodded and smiled at him.

He laughed awkwardly, remembering to not rush into any conversation that would appear to be 'player-ish' as Piper called it.

"So, how was your Thanksgiving?" he asked, thinking that it was a good topic to say, "Hey, let's be friends and I really hope you don't think I want to sleep with you, even though I sort of do."

She sighed and answered, "Remember my sister, Hylla?" Jason nodded, as she continued, "Well, apparently she's doing so _amazing_ at college that she wouldn't pay attention to me at all, and when my parent's even tried to ask me a question or show her that I'm doing well, she changes the subject back to her."

Jason noticed that her eyes changed to a darker shade of brown as she got angrier, but they weren't the change of color that he liked on Piper, soft and compassionate, Reyna's was more like an igniting fire, strong and confident.

"I just sort of forget how self-centered Hylla usually is, it's like she doesn't even care for me like a sister should," Reyna confessed to Jason.

Jason was shocked, he didn't know a girl so perfect as Reyna could have a problem at all in her own little world, but apparently everyone did. Jason should have known, though, him of all people is an example of someone who appears to be perfect, but has a number of problems in life.

Piper suddenly appeared next to him, and put her arm around his neck, like a sideways hug. He put his arm around her neck as well. She smiled widely towards Reyna and ruffled Jason's hair with her other hand.

"How's the blonde superhero's Thanksgiving?" She asked him.

Jason rolled his eyes and smiled at his nickname, "Fine, the usual. Turkey, mashed potatoes, and Thalia complaining that I eat too much of both of those things. How was your's Beauty Queen?"

She pushed his head away and took her arm around his neck to sit down in his seat, put her head in her hands, and ask Reyna the same question. Reyna was ready to go off on a rant again about her sister, but Mr. Brunner walked into the classroom just in time.

"Welcome, back class. I hope you all had fun filling your stomachs to the brim with food, singing Christmas songs, and watching the Macy's Day Parade. But, life goes on and so does school. We have only a few more days until Christmas break, so all of us teachers are going to fill you all to the brim so no homework will happen over break. Your welcome in advance," Mr. Brunner continued on talking about how our studies are our number one priorities right now, but I think we all know what the real number one priority is: getting a date for the Winter Dance.

* * *

Piper was ready for the rest of the school year leading up to Christmas to appear in flashes, so she can go straight to it. It seemed to everyone that Piper was just plain excited for Christmas, which she was, but she was also excited for another thing that happened during it: her parents.

When her parents separated, they made a pact that they would meet up and spend Christmas as a family, together. Her dad promised to decorate the house, her mom promised to cook dinner, and Piper promised not to bother either of them. Piper felt a comfort just seeing their small, torn family act happy at least once a year. It felt like the holidays were finally coming together.

These last couple of years had been hard on her. Her parents had missed two Christmas' in a row. Piper was crushed, and her parents always promised that they would make it up, and this year they needed to. For Piper's sake more than theirs.

Piper had only told Leo and Jason about her parents, but not that much. All she said was that they were separated and nothing else, the tone of her voice gave them a hint that it was a touchy subject to talk about.

"Piper, Piper, Piper," she got out of her zoned out thoughts, to realize that she was alone in Mr. Brunner's classroom with Jason.

"What happened? We're gonna be late! What type of idiot would wait for me, when he has to get to class too?" She then started to slap Jason in the arm as he started to laugh.

"What?! This is not a funny matter!"

Jason sat down to calm his laughter then said, "You're cute when you get annoyed of me being a good friend and waiting."

Piper rolled her eyes and smiled as he continued to say, "Don't worry, he just let us loose for the last ten minutes of class, so you don't have to worry."

Piper then started to slap him again and said in between the slaps, "Why," slap, "Didn't," slap, "You," slap, "Tell," slap, "Me," slap, "Sooner!" slap.

He started laughing and dragged her towards the exit of the classroom to catch up with the others.

The two have gotten close ever since Piper started to help him win over Reyna, they were practically family now. Piper loved Jason's sister, Thalia, and what she saw of his dad. She hoped Jason felt the same about her dad. He never met her mom, nor does Piper ever wish he does. It's not that Piper didn't like her mom, it's just her mom was really busy and never had time for her, so she felt it was unnecessary to have him meet someone who only saw flashes of her life, not the whole movie.

Piper loved her friends because her friends were the people that she chose to be in her life, the ones that she wanted. Not the "friends" Piper always encounters when she's at her dad's movie premiers or her mom's fashion line launches. Piper loved these few people and she liked to think that these few people loved her.

Jason and Piper approached their group of friends, Leo and Annabeth, and Reyna, no Percy. Annabeth and Percy had become closer friends, but not to the point where they were best friends or even talked about their old relationship. Annabeth had told Piper that it was too hard to remember, and it was easier to just ignore it.

"Guys! Come on! We have to do something fun before we get out for Christmas Break! Think of it as the last hurrah of 2015," Leo said as Piper and Jason joined into the conversation.

"What type of something, Valdez?" Reyna asked.

"We could egg Drew's car," Piper suggested.

"Or, we could help tutor people," Jason said to do something good for Christmas.

"No, those are too weak. Especially yours Jase," Leo answered as if he were thinking that this was a real play in basketball.

"How about we prank Percy?" Annabeth offered.

Leo snapped his fingers and pulled Annabeth's in before she could protest and kissed her forehead. "That's the spirit, Chase! Alright guys, our end of the year hurrah plan: Prank Jackson.

 **-TIMELAPSEOOOOACUTELILTIMELAPSEWERESOCOOL-**

"Hey, you gunna finish those fries?"

Reyna glared at Piper and answered back protectively, "Is that even an actual question, McLean?"

Annabeth dropped her lunch tray with a bang onto the table, spilling some of her fries.

"Hey, you gunna eat those fries?" Reyna asked innocently.

The blonde shook her head, causing the smug brunette to grab all of the french fries. Piper raised her hands up in exasperation, trying not to believe that what happened actually happened. Reyna smiled wholeheartedly at her, as she stuffed her mouth with more fries.

Piper rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. But when she looked at the blonde across from her, she frowned.

"What's wrong, Annie?" she asked.

Annabeth playfully glared at her and told her not to call her that, but then her face became serious again and confessed, "I have an 89 in my creative writing class."

Reyna and Piper started laughing at that, leaving Annabeth confused at why it was so funny.

"You guys! This isn't funny! I usually never have trouble in any of my classes, but apparently my stories are 'too serious' and I need to 'lighten up more' when I write! Sue me for wanting to go into in-depth detail about my red dragon, okay!" Annabeth defended herself.

Piper wiped a tear from her eye, "A red dragon? In-depth detail? How can it be in-depth when you call the dragon red. Why not a light maroon or an electric burgundy?" She started laughing again, making Reyna laugh harder.

She started laughing again, making Reyna laugh harder. Reyna fell out of her seat, making Piper's head fall onto the table and moving her legs up and down as if she was in a marching band. Reyna was on the floor moving like a fast turtle who can't get up from falling onto its back.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and began to eat her chicken salad sandwich while her friends continued to die on the floor.

* * *

Jason was waiting for Piper to finish with last period so they could do another lesson today since he didn't have basketball practice. He saw her run out of Goode with her chocolate brown hair flying behind her, her footsteps were the only noise making a sound.

Jason smiled and asked, "Why are you out so early?"

Piper smiled and opened the door to his truck and answered him while he was getting in himself, "Teacher had an emergency and I also asked to go to the bathroom."

Jason was thinking that only one part of what she just said was the truth, but he let it slide as he started the car and went onto the freeway to drive to his house.

There were a few minutes of a comfortable silence, the two of them had gotten used to being quiet together, as well as loud.

"So, what do you want to work on today?" Piper asked.

Jason shrugged, "I dunno, I didn't even think anything was wrong with me in the beginning."

Piper thought, then smiled at an idea, "How about we work on the other person."

Jason took his eyes off the road and looked at her questioningly, before he returned his eyes to the road, waiting for Piper to explain.

"Not Reyna specifically, but let's work on you acknowledging the other person and complimenting them," she explained.

Jason smiled and nodded his head, he liked the idea.

Piper's phone made a noise and she opened up her texts. She froze in her seat, Jason noticed and quickly asked if she was okay. She nodded her head but then said,

She nodded her head but then said, "Can we take a rain check on this lesson?"

He nodded his head, concerned, but didn't push her.

"Alright, thanks, um can you drive me home?"

"Yeah, course."

The car ride then fell into an uncomfortable silence, with Piper trying to not act like she was crushed and Jason wondering what the text was about and how it could make Piper so sad.

* * *

 _A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed! Review and tell me what you think!_

 _See you next weekend, hopefully :)_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	12. T-Minus Two Weeks

_disclaimer: I don't own these awesometacular characters that's all Rick Riordan and I also don't own How_ _To_ _Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 **9:37 pm** **Saturday, December 19th**

 **Night of the Annual Winter Dance at Goode High School**

From anyone's perspective that night, they would tell you that the couple dancing in the middle of the dance floor were in love.

The way the charming blonde boy looked at the girl, they would say that he was smitten. The way the brunette girl blushed as she looked up at the other, they would say that she was under a spell. The way they danced closely together, not the way teens do it now, but the way people properly did it back then, you could tell that they had a respected love. The girl in her royal blue dress was twirled by the blonde boy in a dark grey silk suit like she was the only girl in the whole world. The boy's hair was messed up from a sweet first kiss that the two shared.

Once the dance finished, though, it was like the two became total strangers. No going outside together, no going to the wall to make out, none of it. The only thing they did was smile shyly at each other and walked away.

* * *

 **Tuesday, December 8th**

 **About two weeks until the Winter Dance**

Jason received a paper ball to his head for actually getting to work on his load of homework for the day. He looked up and rolled his eyes as he saw the thrower of the said paper ball who was none other than Piper McLean.

"Wow, so this is what I get for trying to do good in school," he said as he threw the paper back at her.

This received a silent but deadly scolding from the librarian who was passing by. Jason gave a sheepish smile and shrugged his shoulders, hoping it would be enough to make a sense that it was his way of saying sorry.

Piper laughed as she caught the ball and said smartly back, "I believe it's do _well_ in school. And I thought I was the one with a C in English." **(a/n: yeah, I don't even know which one is right)**

Jason rolled his eyes and continued doing his homework for his Art class, which meant that he was badly pencil drawing a tiger. Maybe it was a cartoon tiger. Or an animal with stripes. Hopefully, it, at least, looked like an actual living thing instead of jello with legs and stripes. Hopefully. Probably not, though.

It was the weekly study hang out session with Piper, which meant that Jason was productive and actually got homework done while Piper procrastinated and bothered him until he would stop doing his homework and they would actually communicate as human beings.

Piper continued to pelt him with balls but, this time, smaller ones and through a straw as well, yeah, she was that childish.

Jason was used to it, though. He's spent about eight years as a best friend with Leo, and Piper was the girl form of the guy. They spent a ton of time together, Jason wasn't jealous, though, they were allowed to have other best friends, in fact, he was best friends with Annabeth. Plus, the three of them together, Jason, Piper, and Leo were like the fab three, the fantastic threesome, the three amigos, you know minus the ducks and sombreros. **(a/n: Disney reference anyone? X) but let's be real Disney owns pretty much everything so everything's a Disney reference lol)**

Jason decided to get up the courage to ask Piper what's been going through his mind the whole day. He was meaning to talk to her when he was driving her to school, then when they were in Phys. Ed., then when they were at lunch, then when they first met up at the library. Yeah, Jason's been doing really well in telling Piper what was on his mind. Like, really good. Note the sarcasm.

He looked up at Piper, who was in mid throw position, a paper ball in hand, with a grin on her face. But once she saw the serious look on Jason's face, her smile quickly turned into a frown and she asked, "What's wrong, Jase?"

"Listen, Pipes, you know I care about you and I wouldn't be asking a personal question if I didn't care about you," he started to ramble off, still avoiding what he was going to ask her.

Piper made a time out symbol with her hands and interrupted him saying, "Hold up, you're rambling. What do you need to ask me?"

He knew he shouldn't be nervous asking, they were practically siblings, but Jason always got nervous asking people about their own personal lives. It was like he felt that he didn't have a right to know about his friends' lives.

"What happened last night?"

* * *

Piper sucked in a breath.

"I should've known you didn't want to talk about this. I'm sorry, ya wanna talk about something else? How about we talk about my new purple shirt, or your turquoise shirt, or Drew's or Leo's shirt," Jason kept on rambling again saying random people's names and the word shirt afterwards.

Piper stifled a laugh, causing Jason to pause.

"Well, if you would let me talk, Dofus, then I could, at least, say something," she said to him.

He paused, waiting for Piper to open up.

She took a deep breath, "I haven't really told you or Leo or Annabeth, or anyone really about my parents," she paused and looked at Jason.

He gave her all of his attention. His pencil was on the table, an inch away from his hands, his books were neatly stacked, and his eyes were directly on hers causing Piper to look away and continue.

"Well, my parents are kinda well-known," another pause and look at the blonde.

"My dad's Tristan McLean." She looked towards him, but he didn't show any emotion except understanding, it was like he knew why she didn't tell him that her dad was a celebrity. It was like he had went through the he same thing.

Piper took another breath and then said, "And, my mom's Aphrodite." And there it was. The truth. Her mom didn't have a last name. She said it was society telling her that she needed to "settle down." She explained to Piper, before she left, that last names were important to society, because it told people whether or not the lady "belonged" to someone. Aphrodite did not want to belong to anyone or anything, so she simply took away her last name from everything other than government official papers.

After a long period of silence, Jason spoke to her with a gentle voice and said, "Piper, why did you think you couldn't tell any of this to me, or Leo, or anyone else?"

"Because, whenever I open up to anyone, they only want to keep being my friend to have a chance to meet celebrities or get some free stuff. It's like they forgot that I used to be their best friend and they used to be mine. They stopped being my friend and I didn't want that to happen again, especially with you guys," Piper confessed.

She knew tears were going to come out if she kept talking. While Piper explained, flashes of her ex best friends and ex boyfriends appeared into her brain.

Jason's eyes softened, "Well, here, let me help you feel better: my mom was a celebrity too. Her name was Beryl Grace."

Piper's eyes widened, suddenly flashes of a woman, different from her mom, kissing her dad appeared. Piper didn't know who the woman was, but she knew she didn't want to know.

"Piper, what? What happened? I know that face," Jason said with a concerned tone in his voice.

She erased the confused look on her face and masked it with a smile and said, "Oh nothing. I just thought I remembered something. Really, it's nothing."

Jason's face showed that he didn't believe her, but he still didn't push her, Piper was grateful for that.

"Okay, so, is that all?" he asked.

Piper was confused, "All what?"

"Is that what was wrong, what made you freeze up last night?"

Piper looked down at her untouched homework that had its edges torn up from the peices thrown at Jason.

She looked up at him, then, with tears brimming at her eyes and said in a heartbroken tone, "My mom got into a car accident."

 **-TIMELAPSEOOAFUNKYLILTIMELAPSERIGHTHERE-**

"Hey, Pipes. How was school?" her dad, Tristan McLean, asked when Piper came home from school.

"It was okay. Has anyone called about mom, today?"

Her dad shook his head, a sad look in his eye. But afterwards, he covered up his face with a grin and moved out of the way, for Piper to see the kitchen filled with ingredients. Not just any ingredients, though, they were ingredients to bake _cookies_.

Her face glowed with happiness. It was a McLean family tradition to bake chocolate chip cookies at least once each year in December before Christmas. Piper and her Dad would decorate the cookies with bright colors and summer-y stencils, because Piper was always dysfunctional, she got that from her dad. They hated that people over-hyped Christmas in October, so they decided to de-hype it in the McLean household, meaning they got the un-winteriest decorations for cookies.

The small family got started, making the dough of the cookies. When it came to cookie baking, the McLean family was serious, there was no pre made dough or icing. It was hand made or nuthin'.

They continued to make the cookies until it was in the oven, cut up and all. Which left Piper working on the icing and also eating it once and a while and the great Tristan McLean picking out the sprinkles they were going to use, because they didn't have time to make sprinkles. How does one make sprinkles from scratch anyway? **(a/n: if you know, please tell because that is dedication bro)**

Piper took a deep breath and finally found the courage to ask him what was on her mind, "So, how are you holding up, Dad?"

He looked at his daughter and saw in the place of his grown up version of his girl, he found his once younger little girl, whose heart was broken from the news of her parents getting a divorce. Tristan shook his head and found his older and wiser little girl once again, who still had a heart broken, but not from the divorce but from a recent tragedy.

He sighed and said softly as he looked at the sprinkles he chose, "I've been better, Pipes. You know I still love your mother, but not the kind of way you used to want me to love her. But I still care for her. I've talked to her agent yesterday, he says that she's stable, but still isn't awake. At least she's in her favorite place, Paris."

Piper looked down sadly at the icing when he said the last sentence. She thought, "Of course her favorite place isn't with her family, she doesn't have a family. She doesn't want responsibilities or a person to 'belong to.'" Piper received a bitter taste in her mouth as she thought those things that she's always known. Yet, the truth, no matter how many times she's thought them, broke her.

* * *

"What do you need, Leo?" Jason answered his phone as he paused the latest episode of The Flash. **(a/n: please please please put in your review long live Barry Allen if you watch The Flash BECAUSE ITS MY FAV SHOW AND OMG ITS SO FREAKIN GOOOD)**

Leo grinned into the phone, "You watchin' The Flash, again? Dude, how many Netflix marathons of it can you get in and still not get sick of it?"

"A ton because my _friends_ keep on interrupting me while I binge watch," Jason said pretending to be annoyed, eventhough he was actually a little annoyed.

"Okay, okay. I know when I shouldn't bother the great Jason Grace: when he's binge watching The Flash. You know, you should put into your voicemail message: Hi, it's Jason. Player extraordinaire. I'm not picking up right now because I'm probably watching The Flash. Leave a message after the beep," Leo answered then started to crack up.

Jason rolled his eyes but smiled afterwards and asked impatiently, "What did you need, Leo?"

"Oh right, how do you feel about tulips?"

"Hey, Leo, this is sweet and we've known each other for a long time, but I don't think our relationship is in the giving flowers phase, yet."

Jason could practiaclly hear Leo's eyes roll, "Dude, you know I love you, but alas our love is forbidden. So, do you think Calypso would like tulips?"

"Wow. Did I just get rejected? It hurts, bro. It hurts," Jason replied with a hand over his chest. "I think you should go for purple tulips though, if ya wanna go with tulips. Roses are too cliché for a girl like Calypso," Jason answered.

"What do you mean 'for a girl like Calypso?'"

"Dude, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I meant that she doesn't seem like a girl who likes the cheesy types of things like chocolates, flowers, and guys in tuxes. She seems like the kind of girl that would stay up late having a Christmas movie marathon, or late night Walmart runs, basically what I'm saying is is that she's different, and I think you guys are really good together," Jason explained.

••••

When he talked about Calypso, he thought he was describing the perfect girl. The one he would end the games with, once and for all. The one he would run in Percy's face that he beat him and broke the most hearts, then get back together with her. He thought he really liked Reyna, not love but liked keep in mind. But little did he know that he was describing a different brunnette who was more spontaneous and outgoing. One that he was actually falling in love with.

* * *

 **A/N: Greetings from the Big Apple! I didn't know if I would be able to update, but I found time so here ya go!**

 **So, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I think it's one of my favorites, lemme know what you think :D**

 **Also, who do y'all think the girl Jason was dancing with? I'd love to know and maybe I'll use the girl that y'all want to see, but I have an idea in my head with who I want it to be. :)) But also, what if it isn't Jason? Just think about that. :))))))))**

 **k, hope y'all enjoyed!**

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	13. The Big Question

_to one of the guests who reviewed with a suggestion: thanks for the review and suggestion! Personally, I'm a sucker for cliches, half of my favorite stories are contemporaries and hopelessly cliche. XD I was originally planning for this story to have Jasper as end game, but I totally think Pipercy is pretty adorable :D Also, your first prediction may come true, but let's wait and seeee :D_

 _disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the song How to be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 **11:25 pm Saturday, December 19th, 2015**

 **A few hours after the Night of the Winter Dance at Goode High School**

"How was the dance?" the boy heard on the other line.

He flopped onto his bed and grinned as he answered, "I danced with this amazing girl."

"Sounds like someone's got a cruuuuuuush," the dark haired girl teased towards the boy.

"Ugh, stoooop. Thalia, I'm ready to hang up now." the boy replied jokingly.

"Gimme a C! Gimme an R! Gimme a U! Gimme an S! Gimme an H! What does that spell?!" the voice on the other end screamed as she laughed.

"Alright, I'm pressing the end button!" he answered, finger hovering over it.

"K, BAIII LOVESICK PUPPY!" the girl answered on the other end.

* * *

 **Sunday Night, December 13th, 2015**

 **One week until the Night of the Winter Dance**

"Onwards, young sir! We must head to the dairy aisle!" Piper commanded Jason.

They were at the grocery store. Piper sat in the shopping cart basket and of course, by default, Jason had to push her. It was Sunday night, the night Piper had to make dinner for their all of their friends at her house. Jason of course, by default, had to help her make the dinner because Piper couldn't cook food for her life, excluding desserts. She was bomb at making brownies, cookies, ice cream, and other stuff. Yeah, even ice cream.

"Why do you always get to be in the basket," Jason complained as he pushed her easily into the cereal aisle.

"Simple: your the muscle of this friendship. And, also, I actually fit," Piper answered as she ate the rest of the Oreo she took from the package they were going to buy.

"That is SO not true, I could totally fit into this cart," he retorted as he pushed hard on the cart so he could put his feet up and not have to walk for a couple seconds.

Piper laughed and answered that he could probably fit, but she would never push him.

Jason took that as a challenge and said, "McLean get your butt up. You are going to push me the rest of the way."

Piper groaned, got up, and told Jason to roll up his sleeve.

He followed her orders, even though he was confused, and saw that Piper was doing the same.

"Kay, flex."

He did, not because he wanted to but because he was scared of her at the moment.

She flexed as well and said, "Do you see my arms compared to yours? How do you think my arms could ever push around all your muscles and stuff! This is an inconvenience to both you and me. Case closed," with that she hopped back into the cart and grabbed another Oreo.

Jason continued to push her, but then came up with a plan to make her push him.

He slowed down, then started to complain and slowly went down to the ground until he was laying there screaming, "PIPER. I CAN'T MAKE IT. MY MUSCLES HAVE GIVEN UP. TELL MY SISTER THAT I LOVE HER."

He then stayed there on the floor, until Piper groaned and said, "Fine. You win. I'll push you, but you have to pay."

He got up easily as she got out of the cart and said cheekily, "You also have to drive."

She grudgingly nodded and said under her breath as Jason got into the cart, "Your lucky you're my best friend."

She pushed him without a second thought to the dairy aisle where they fought over which milk they should get: chocolate or white milk.

They got white milk. Piper won with a pouting Jason.

Piper pushed Jason into the cashier lane and put the groceries on the moving belt and Jason smiled at the cashier, a girl who went to their school named Katie.

She didn't give Jason in the cart basket a second look and instead asked, "Paper or plastic?"

Jason swiped his card after she rang up the groceries and Jason said with a kind smile, "Thanks, Katie. See you at school."

* * *

Piper opened the car door for Jason, who was carrying all of the groceries, to Piper's dismay. She fought that even though she was a girl, she still had the power to carry groceries.

"So you can carry groceries but apparently 'not push me in a shopping cart'?" Jason asked accusingly.

She fell silent, leaving her to the way she was just now.

Piper got into the driver's seat and started the car as Jason locked in his seat belt. **(safety first kiddos)**

"Whatcha wanna listen to?" Jason asked as he plugged his phone into the aux cord.

Piper shrugged, "Whatever you want. I don't care."

Jason started to play Avicii's _Waiting For Love_ , **(if you have not listened to this song before STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND LISTEN TO IT. THE MUSIC VIDEO IS LITERAL PERFECTION)** which led Piper and Jason to belt out the lyrics as they drove along the highway.

After the song ended, a comfortable silence fell between them for a couple of minutes. Piper looked at the road, relaxed and Jason thought nervously about what he was going to ask Piper.

He had been contemplating the subject with himself for weeks, actually. He kept trying to gain the confidence to ask her. Their lessons had been going well, and he finally thought that he was ready to ask her.

Jason finally got the balls to ask and said, "So, Pipes, I have something to ask you."

"Shoot," she answered looking at him for a millisecond to let him know that she was listening, then turning her eyes back towards the road.

"Well, I was wondering, that, um, well."

"Spit it out, or I'm going to make you drive us home," she answered threateningly.

"Okay, okay. I was thinking, since we've been working on my jerk-ness and lessening it, that maybe I could," Jason was saying.

Piper held her breath, though not knowing why.

"Ask Reyna to the Winter Formal this Friday," he finished.

Piper let go of the breath, not knowing if she was disappointed or relieved. The past few weeks of getting to know Jason brought her clueless to what she thought of him: a best friend or something more. She thought about asking Annabeth about it but decided not to. Afterall, Annabeth and Jason told each other everything. Piper then thought about telling Leo, but thought the same thing would happen, but she still might tell him because it was Leo. He figured out everything.

"Hello? Earth to Piper," Jason asked from beside her, wondering what she was thinking.

Piper broke away from her thoughts, "Yeah. Yeah, you're ready. We should do a few more lessons, though, to make sure that you've got it down. That alright?"

"Totally."

"Cool."

* * *

 **Saturday Morning, December 20th, 2015**

 **Day after Annual Winter Dance**

"Morning," a half-awake Jason answered his phone.

"Morning!" answered Piper, who was ever so cheerful.

"You sound like you're in a good mood," he said, slowly becoming fully awake.

"I've got good news."

"Oh yeah?" Jason started to grin. "And what might that be?"

"You'll have to wait and see," she said mischievously.

"Wait for what?"

"BYYYEEEEEE!" Piper hung up, afterward.

* * *

 **Monday afternoon, December 14th, 2015**

 **Four days until the Annual Winter Dance**

"Okay, show me what you got, pretend I'm Reyna," Piper told Jason as she leaned on his island in his kitchen.

Jason nodded and walked towards her and gave her a big dazzling smile, "Hey Reyna. Wanna go to the dance?"

"I'm already going to the dance," Piper said annoyedly.

"That was horrible wasn't it?" Jason said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Ya think?" Piper answered. "Don't ask her like you know what the answer is. She'll think that you're still your 'old' self. She needs to see that you respect her."

"What do you mean by 'old' self?"

"Well, I talked around to the many, many, many girls you've dated and they described you as a douche," Piper mirked as she answered.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!" Jason defended.

"Oh yeah? 'Hey, Ashley, wanna go into that closet and skip Bio?'" Piper asked as she started to laugh.

"I was younger!"

"That was last week!" Piper answered.

"To be fair, she's a great kisser and I'm also horrible at Bio so I did both of us a favor."

"Jason!"

"Okay, okay! Won't happen again, boss," he said as he raised his hands up in defeat.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Start again."

He nodded and walked over to her, "Hi, Reyna. Are you going to the dance with anyone?"

Piper shook her head.

"Would you like to go with me?"

Piper smiled, "Better. Not amazing, but you're getting there."

* * *

 **Tuesday lunch time, December 15th, 2015**

 **Three days until Annual Winter Dance**

Jason ran up and hugged Piper as she was about to leave the lunch room, behind Reyna and Annabeth.

"Pipes, she said yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Pipes?" Piper asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, it slipped out. Piper," Jason had a grin on his face.

"No, it's cool, it has a nice ring to it," Piper reassured. "And congrats, even though I already knew because she wouldn't stop talking about it at lunch with us."

Jason grinned and hugged Piper again.

He whispered in her ear, "Thanks again, Pipes."

* * *

 _A/N: Ta-da! Hoped you enjoyed! I'm sorry for not updating in a long time, I was going through_ writers _block and laziness. But don't worry, I haven't given up on this story!_

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Tell me what you think by leaving a review :D_

 _ **~songsaboutjasper**_


	14. A 'Lil Break for Best Friends

_disclaimer: I do not own these characters by Rick Riordan or the story inspiration, the song How to Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 **Wednesday, December 16th, 2015**

 **Two Days until the Annual Winter Dance at Goode High**

A thud landed on Piper's desk as she was taking a glorious nap before AP World History started. Her head jumped and looked up to find the one and only Leo Valdez, his heavy backpack sitting on her desk.

He chuckled to himself. He hadn't been able to talk to Piper one-on-one in a long time. Not that they didn't talk every day, because they did, they constantly had conversations which consisted of Piper teasing him about Calypso and him saying that she would be forever alone, which he was totally lying. He constantly saw guys eying Piper in the hallways. But they never actually _talked_ , about the important things, at least.

"Ugh, what do you want?" she asked snappily. Piper had gotten to her class early only so she could take a short nap.

"Just wondering if ya wanna hang out this afternoon," he asked as he fidgeted with some pipe cleaners.

Piper rubbed her eyes, "Ya, I think Jason is going to hang out with Percy or Annabeth, today."

Leo sat down in the seat next to her, he had to run across campus to get to his next class, but his last class was in the classroom next to hers so they had time to talk for a few minutes.

He put a serious face on, which bothered Piper, and asked, "Kay, honest time now. You've been out of it ever since Jason asked Reyna to the dance. Is there some unsaid feelings on your end?"

Piper laughed nervously, "Why would you think that? He's my best friend, of course, I'm happy for him."

Leo replied annoyed that she wouldn't open up, "You know you've been acting weird, Piper. And you know that you can tell me stuff. Remember? I'm your first muchacho to come to in your time of need."

She sighed and put her head down on the desk and said with her voice muffled, "I don't know."

"A good 'I don't know', or a bad 'I don't know'?"

"An I don't know, 'I don't know,'" Piper answered helplessly.

Leo nodded, grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Piper was grateful. The way the two acted around each other was like they both knew they would never start dating. They loved each other too much; it wasn't the love that you have with a significant other, though, but something more. The type of love that you would rather die first, than live a day without the other person around. The love only two siblings could ever share. And that love seemed to be as important, if not more important, than a love you would have for a significant other, to Piper.

A few more students started to file into the classroom, so Leo let go, a smile on his face. "See you later, alligator," he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Just leave already!" Piper shouted back as Leo turned around and winked at her playfully as he went through the doorway.

* * *

Annabeth closed her locker shut and grinned to find one of her oldest best friends walking up to her, Jason Grace.

"Hello, my dear old best friend. I believe it has been ages since we've been alone together," he said as he swung his arm around her shoulders.

Annabeth wrapped her arm around his waist and replied, "I believe so, too Mr. Grace. Congrats with Reyna, by the way."

Jason started to blush and looked down at the floor, avoiding Annabeth's eyes. He didn't want to bring up the whole Reyna situation, after all, he only asked her for the stupid game he was playing against Percy. Right after he asked Reyna to go with, him he felt guilt flood through him immediately.

She pushed him playfully to get him to talk, they still had plenty of time since their next class, Honors English, was still a long way away.

"Fine, yeah. Piper's been teaching me ways to finally try and win over Reyna. Looks like she isn't so bad a teacher, her pointers turned out well, since I finally got her to say yes," he answered sheepishly.

Annabeth laughed at him.

"What?" Jason asked, confused.

"You act like you already achieved her undying love for you," rolling her eyes as she smiled, thinking, 'He's an idiot.'

"Well, I mean, I kind of have, haven't I?"

Annabeth shook her head, "Not even close, kiddo."

Jason groaned and changed the subject, "Why do girls have to be so complicated?"

"Because if we were so simple, then it would be too easy. And what fun would that be?" Annabeth retorted with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes, "But I like easy. Easy is practically my favorite word."

"What about Reyna? Or PIIIIIIPER?" she teased.

Jason stopped midstep, "What does Piper have to do with this?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and continued the walking herself. She couldn't believe that guys were so oblivious, anyone who had eyes could see that the two of them, Piper and Jason, were slowly falling in love. But Annabeth never said any of this to Jason aloud, what fun would that be for the two of them?

* * *

Jason entered the gym after school, it wasn't until 3 that he would meet up with Annabeth to get some frozen yogurt, so he decided to shoot some hoops with Percy, who had been absent in their little group the majority of the time ever since he broke up with Annabeth. He saw Percy already shooting free throws and soon joined him.

"So, how've you been?" Jason asked as he made a basket.

Percy shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the extra balls to get another one, "Same old same old. I've been hanging with the team, lately. They've been wondering why you and Leo aren't hanging out much lately."

Jason internally groaned, his fellow teammates were total players, so basically eff-boys. Jason never really liked them but had spent most of his sophomore year trying to fit in with the 'cool kids,' which were them. That lead to him following in the footsteps of the team alumni, which meant that he was a player. After hearing Piper say it over and over again, he had half-accepted it. Half.

Jason shot for a three-pointer, but missed terribly, which resulted into Percy laughing at him as he shot his own. Percy, of course, missed as well.

"So, how've you and Annabeth been doing?" Jason asked gingerly, knowing Annabeth was a sore subject.

Percy gave him a knowing look as he bounced the ball three times, "You probably already know, man. You and her are tight now." Jason didn't hear it, but Percy's voice had a tinge of jealousy wrapped around it.

Jason shrugged, "Not really, I've been spending more time with Piper and stuff."

Percy lifted his eyebrows suggestively as he stole Jason's ball out of his hand. Jason reached to get it, but he had already dribbled the ball and made a basket.

"So, are we still playing that stupid game?" Percy asked as he dropped his hands.

"Hell yeah. Unless you wanna finally admit that I won," Jason answered.

Percy scoffed, "In your dreams, Blondie."

"Hey, so you wanna hang out tomorrow with me and Reyna? We're going to go and watch a movie," Jason asked.

"Reyna agreed to go on a date with you?" Percy asked, doubtfully.

Jason nervously laughed to himself as he shot another basket, "Yeah, there may be a chance that I haven't asked her yet." This earned a scoff and eye roll from Percy. "She'll probably say yes, though!" Jason hurriedly tried to save himself.

Percy shrugged as he rebounded Jason's ball, "I dunno, man. An afternoon to play as a third wheel with you and Reyna? That's pretty hard to pass up." Note the sarcasm in his voice.

"Come on, Perce! I'll even try and invite one of her cute friends!" Jason begged.

"A date with one of Reyna's student body friends? That's definitely hard to pass up." Note his sarcasm.

"Give them a shot!" Jason begged again, he was practically ready to get on his knees.

"Fine. But it has to be someone that I would think is cute," Percy gave in.

Jason smiled and shot a three-pointer that went in triumphantly.

"God, why did you want me to go so bad anyway?" Percy asked as he went to get another basketball.

"No reason," was all Jason said, but if Percy saw his face then there he would see that there was definitely a reason behind Jason wanting Percy to go. A master plan that Jason would need serious balls for. Because the girl that he was planning on Percy double-dating with, definitely would not be happy with who her date is. Could you take a lucky guess to who it is?

* * *

"Annabeth!" Piper asked as she was pulling Leo in Forever 21.

The said blonde girl looked up from the clothing rack, she was near startled, "Hey Piper! Hi Leo. What brings you two here?"

Piper started, "Oh, we were going to find Leo..."

She paused as Leo elbowed her in the gut and continued, "My sister needs a dress, yeah. And, um, we were trying to find one."

Annabeth looked between the two as the duo were glaring at each other, only talking with their eyes and Annabeth could take a lucky guess that Leo didn't have a sister.

"Mhm, sure. Well, good luck finding it," she interrupted their eyes-only conversation.

The two broke the conversation and Piper said, "Yeah!"

The three stood there awkwardly as Leo blushed but then broke the silence saying, "Okay, fine. The dress is for me. But it's for a project!"

Piper started laughing hard, and Annabeth even broke into a grin.

Leo stomped his foot, "You guys! It isn't my fault that Home Ec requires sewing! And I can't do that, I don't even know what a dress is!"

"No one asked, but cool story, Leo," Annabeth replied, this made Piper laugh even harder which made Leo more frustrated.

Piper calmed down then realized something and asked, "I almost forgot, I never asked you why you were here."

"Oh, I'm meeting up with Jason later to get some fro-yo. You guys can join if you'd like," Annabeth responded.

The brunette shook her head, "Nah, it's fine. I've seen enough of that blonde to last a lifetime. You two go have fun."

Annabeth nodded.

"Well, we'll see you later! We're off to find Leo a dress," Piper grinned as Leo grumbled and pulled her away.

Annabeth laughed to herself and rolled her eyes and went back to looking at dresses for the Winter Formal. No one had asked her yet, but Annabeth was fine with going alone since she was the lead decorator and boss of the whole dance. It would have been harder if she had a date. Besides, Annabeth liked being the eye in the sky, the hawk, the person that could be called in any time of need.

She stopped at a gray dress. Saying it was beautiful was an understatement. It was a body-hugging dress with swirls of dark gray and light gray twisted and entwined, with the neckline as a mock-turtleneck that was velvet. She fell in love with the dress and went straight to the fitting room.

She tried it on, and knew that it was perfect once she turned around. It hugged all the right places, and she longed to wear her Converse with it, but she knew that Piper would bully her into wearing heels. Not just 1 inch heels, no, proper heels.

She walked out to ask the girl who was helping her, Lacey she recalled her name, to ask what her opinion was, but when Annabeth walked out of the room she stopped with her jaw-dropped.

"Percy?" she asked.

He turned his head and his eyes practically popped out of his head, "Um, hey, Annabeth."

She looked down and remembered that she was a wearing a suddenly embarrassingly tight dress and blushed. "What are you doing here? Shopping for another dress, are you?" she teased.

He scratched his head and nervously laughed, "Um, no, I was uh, with my, um."

Suddenly Drew walked out of the dressing room he was standing in front of in a very short, tight, and low, as in low-low, neckline. She said as she adjusted the dress to make it even shorter, which was practically impossible, "Percy, babe, how is this." She stopped, suddenly noticing Annabeth. "Oh, hi, hun! Didn't see you there. You looking for a dress too?"

She looked down at the dress with a judgemental gaze that made Annabeth insecure. "Yeah, actually," Annabeth answered.

"Mhm. Well, did you hear the good news? I'm going to the formal with this hunk, right here!" she grabbed Percy in a half hug and kissed him on the neck.

He nervously laughed as he saw Annabeth's expression, she finally understood what was going on. "Well, I'll leave you two to it then! See you guys," Annabeth awkwardly said.

Annabeth turned around, but heard Drew say, "Now, how 'bout you come and help me take this off, hun."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and knew that the tiny sliver of hope was gone for Percy asking her. She didn't know why, and didn't like it, but it was still always there in the back of her mind that he would ask her out.

She bought the dress, nonetheless, and walked out to find Jason on his phone in front of Forever 21, which was a little walk from their favorite fro-yo shop.

"Hey, Blondie," she said as she approached Jason.

He smiled as he looked up from his phone and turned it off, "Whatcha got there?"

Annabeth smiled like she had a secret, "Oh, just something for Friday."

He raised his eyes suggestively, "Something to wow a special someone?"

"No, something to make myself feel confident."

Jason raised his arms in surrender, "Can't fight that."

They started to walk to the fro-yo shop and Annabeth teased Jason about him needing to find a suit and tie for the dance to wow Reyna.

Jason punched her lightly, "What about you? Got a date yet?"

She shook her head thinking to herself, 'The only person that I would have sort of liked to ask me out was currently making out with Drew in a dressing room."

"So, wanna hang out with me and Reyna tomorrow? We're gonna go to the movies," Jason asked hopefully.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno, third wheeling you and Reyna or read one of my new books.. that's a hard choice." Note her sarcasm.

Jason begged her and she grudgingly agreed. Jason grinned, his plan was working out perfectly.

* * *

Leo gulped down his third cup of coffee, "I'm gonna get another cup anything for you?"

Piper shook her head and watched her best friend walk over to the annoyed cashier, Leo had hit on her one too many times. They were at one of Piper's favorite hidden coffee shops. It was away from all of the bustling of tourists and Piper felt like she was back in L.A., which was a little bit less fast-paced.

She drank her water as she looked out the window, people-watching. Piper wasn't a very big coffee fan, which made Leo not talk to her for two straight hours, short for Piper but excruciatingly long for him. He walked back with a coffee and a cookie.

"Who's the cookie for?" Piper asked in hope the cookie was for her.

"Me," Leo said as he drank his coffee, this time slowly.

Piper gave him the puppy dog, you can't say no to, eyes, "Fine. You can have half."

She punched the air above her with both arms in success and started to break up the pink icing-ed cookie and eat half. "So, have you asked Calypso to go to the dance with you yet?" she asked with her mouthful of cookie.

Leo stopped mid-gulp, "I have to ask her out?"

"Duh," Piper answered as if it was obvious.

"But, we're dating! You mean I still have to ask her?"

"I'm afraid so, mi muchacho."

"Help me!" Leo demanded/begged.

"Get down on one knee and plead," Piper demanded as she grinned.

"Ugh! Piper!"

"Do it."

Let's just say that Leo hadhelp for both finding him a dress, atux, and asking out his girlfriend to the dance.

* * *

 _WOW! That's one of the longest chapters I've ever written. This was dedicated to more of the best friendships that I love. than Piper and Jason. (Don't worry I've got plenty more of them coming!)_

 _I want to thank all of you that have reviewed, favorited, and followed! You all mean the world to me! :D_

 _Shoutout to Lucia McLean! Thanks for your understanding and all of the other guest reviewers!_

 _Let me know what you thought of this chapter and the overall story! We're so close tot he dance and finding out who the boy and girl are! YAY!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	15. Unplanned Plans

_disclaimer: I do not own any of these character by Rick Riordan or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

"Okay, I know what you're thinking, but I really, really, like her. Like, a lot. How is this possible? How did I let a girl fall into my arms and my heart fall into her hands!"

"Breathe. You're starting to sound like Shakespeare. It's okay, it's not like you love her or anything. Plus, she isn't in any of your classes. Everything will be fine," Thalia tried to calm him down.

"Okay… But what if it turns out that I do?"

"You don't."

"But what if I do?"

"Then you are screwed," Thalia laughed and messed his hair up.

"Great," he huffed and fixed his hair as he walked to his class, leaving her at her car.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 18th, 2015**

 **1 day until the Annual Goode High Winter Dance**

Jason walked down the hallway, occasionally saying hi to people he knew. He was zoned out, though. His mind was stuck on the fact that he still needed a tux for tomorrow, he was trying to figure out his plan for tonight at the movies with Reyna, Percy, and Annabeth, and also the fact that he still needs to ask Reyna if she wanted to go to the movies.

"Whoa, there, Tiger, you almost ran into me," Piper grabbed him before he was going to hit a wall. She was leaning against her locker, which was conveniently next to his; they found this out before they were best friends.

Jason shook his head and smiled at the brunette, "Thanks, Piper."

"Any time brotha," she answered as she winked. She was looking especially nice today. She was wearing a royal purple t-shirt that went to her belly button, ripped boyfriend jeans, and short-heeled black booties, with her hair down, with the occasional little braids and feathers. Jason, of course, did not notice any of this; he was a boy after all.

"So," Jason started to say as they got all of their things together, "anyone special you going to the dance with?"

Piper rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Oh yeah. The boys are lining up to ask me out."

Jason didn't get it, he had seen a ton of guys eye her every single day, how come no one was asking her out?

"Anyone, in particular, you want to ask you out?" Jason nudged her teasingly.

She rolled her eyes again and closed her locker holding her books as she crossed her arms, making Jason laugh.

"How's Reyna?" she said, turning the conversation towards him. She knew this would get under his skin.

He raised his hands up in defeat and replied, "Fine, you win." Jason didn't even know what was going on between him and Reyna. The two haven't even made any contact since he asked her out, but she was always busy with clubs she was president of, there were a lot, and he was always busy with basketball practice and lessons with Piper. Yes, he still needed lessons. He could not dance for his life. Or hers. Or anyone else's

She grinned in victory and stuck her tongue out. As he passed by her, he messed her hair up, getting her back. She glared at him, but then had a mischievous look cover her face and jumped on his back. Jason obliged and started to run towards Mr. Brunner's classroom, with Piper on his back laughing extremely loudly.

* * *

Piper didn't know if she was glad that no one had asked her out or mad that no guy had the balls to ask her. She decided that she was in the middle. It wasn't that she needed a boy to make the dance fun for her, but she constantly had Jason and Leo tease her for having guys look at her, which was not even close to being true. Either way, she was gonna have a hell of a time with a date or not.

"Hey, girl hheeeyyyy," she heard an annoyingly familiar voice behind her say.

She rolled her eyes as she sat in her seat and turned around to see Leo walking up, "You called?"

He slammed his backpack down lazily on his desk beside her, sat down and said, "Lucky guy ask you out yet?" Leo teased.

Piper was annoyed and replied back, "Why do you need to know! Argh you are the second person to ask me this. Why do you and Jason even care about my love life?!"

Leo raised his hands to her shoulders and shook her, "Chill! I was just teasing."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before nodding and apologizing, "Sorry. Don't know what happened."

"S'okay. I take it that's a no, though? To my question?" Leo responded smiling like everything was good in the world.

Piper rolled her eyes at how easy it was for Leo to be in a good mood, even though she was a bitch. She loved the loser for it. "Yeah, the guys just can't handle this," Piper joked. "How's Calypso? Our plan work out?"

Leo's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! She laughed so hard when she saw me dressed up like Captain America, but a Latino version. In all spandex. It was very uncomfortable. She especially loved the fact that I baked a cake, so that made up the uncomfortableness of the spandex."

"Hey! I did most of the work!" Piper screamed before smacking jus below of his shoulder hard.

"Yeah, maybe I kinda sorta never told her that?" Leo winced and rubbed his arm.

"Well, maybe I'll kinda sorta whoop your sorry butt for not giving me credit!" Piper huffed and crossed her arms.

"I was trying to feel better about myself! You weren't the one who was wearing spandex all night!"

"Yeah, but I baked the cake, and you do know that you could've changed out of it, right?" Piper answered, trying to still act angry, but failing.

"Yeah, I couldn't."

"Sucks to suck," Piper stuck her tongue out and smiled.

Leo laughed sarcastically and stuck his tongue back out, "So, you down to hang out tonight with me and Calypso?"

Piper shook her head, "Sorry, can't. Hanging out with my dad tonight, family night."

"Ah, the world-famous dad. Have fun," Leo said encouragingly. Piper had told him a few weeks ago after telling Jason, she knew the two couldn't keep anything from each other.

"Oh yeah, we'll probably watch his own movies, eat popcorn, and make fun of his co-stars who were so self-obsessed it's hilarious."

Their conversation got cut short, Mr. Brunner walked into the classroom in his wheelchair wearing a deep navy blue suit with his glasses in his hand. "Morning class, let's get started."

* * *

"Ugh, I swear if another teacher says, 'Just because tomorrow's the dance doesn't mean you don't have homework,' I will kill someone! Like we get it, we're in school! You can give us homework if you want!" Piper complained as she was walking in between Jason and Leo to her class. She didn't know why the boys were following her, but she was to lazy to ask them.

Leo covered her mouth and said, "Shhh, don't talk so loud. They might hear you and think that all of their students are okay with homework."

Piper rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, licking Leo's hand. He screeched and took his hand away quickly. "Mmm, you taste like tacos," Piper said triumphantly.

Jason chuckled, "I don't know if that's racist or not." He took a bite out of his apple, Piper swore that boy was the healthiest teenager in the country.

"I'll take it as a compliment. I can whip up great tacos, by the way," Leo said as he wiped his hand on his shirt multiple times.

Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed Jason's hand to take a bite out of his apple, "You are such a baby, Leo. I've licked you plenty of times for you to be used to this." She gave back Jason's hand, so he could eat his apple; even though Piper wanted more. It was a good apple.

"Wow, thank you, Piper for my apple back," Jason said sarcastically and nudged her.

"You are very welcome, Mr. Grace," she answered cheekily.

Leo stopped mid-step, making the two to stop as well, "Wait. Why are we going with Piper to her class, again?"

Jason scratched his head, a confused look on his face as well, "Wait, we were going to Piper's class? I thought we were going to lunch."

Piper laughed and put her arms around the two's necks, "Sorry boys, we're heading to my class."

Jason sighed, probably because he was looking forward to lunch, Leo was still confused, and Piper had a smug look on her face because she was making the two walk her to class.

* * *

Jason took a deep breath, "You got this Tiger. Go ask your girl out!" Piper said behind him, rubbing his shoulders like he was about to get into a wrestling match.

"Piper?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"No can do, kiddo."

"You know I'm a few months ahead of you, right?"

"Silence, young grasshopper. Now, go get yo girl!" She pushed him towards Reyna who was sitting at their, Annabeth's, Piper's, and hers, table alone. She was eating fries.

"Hey, Reyna," Jason greeted as he sat next to her.

She smiled and answered, "Hey, what up?"

"Starvinngg, could I have some of those?" Jason asked pointing to a fry.

She immediately took the fries and pulled them closer to her, "Um, yeah, no. Sorry." She looked at him, say the confusion and explained, "You know how people have their obsessions and favorite foods?" Jason nodded as she continued, "Well, that's me with french fries."

"It's cool," Jason nodded and understood. "So, did you see that new movie that came out yet?"

Reyna swallowed her fries and answered, "No, not yet."

"Wanna go, like with me, tonight?" Jason asked.

"Umm," Reyna started to say unsurely.

"Annabeth will be there if that makes you feel better," Jason offered.

"Oh."

"But, she has a date, so it's not like your third wheeling, or she's third wheeling, or like this isn't a date, unless, you uh," Jason rambled on. And on. And on.

"Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"If I go, will you shut up?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go," Reyna answered as she smiled.

"Great, I'll, um, see you tonight then."

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

Piper was sitting on the couch, waiting for her dad to get popcorn for their father-daughter night. The last time they had one, she was back in L.A. Needless to say, she was excited. Her dad always tried to spend time with her, but his assistant, Jane, always found a way to pull him away, leaving Piper by herself in an empty mansion.

"Hey, Pipes. I got the snacks," her dad came into the living room from the kitchen. He sat next to her on their sectional couch, in front of their very, very, big television. He handed her some sour patch kids while he had some milk duds, and placed the bucket of popcorn between them.

"Thanks, dad," there was a pause as the movie was loading in their DVD player. Piper decided she was going to bring up the sore subject, "So, how's mom?"

Piper's dad looked at her and held her gaze, "Not good. She's fighting, but the medicine's not working. She's still in a coma."

Stupid car. Stupid driver. Stupid street. Stupid people. Stupid world. Why did life always throw curveballs at people? Why did things like tragedies happen every single day? We think that bad things will never touch us, but one day, poof. It happens and we're left on the ground without our glasses on, searching for them completely blind. Piper was crushed when she learned that her mom was half way across the world unconscious from a car accident. Stupid life.

"Oh, what are they going to do, now then?" Piper asked.

"They're going to have to try another treatment, hopefully, the next one works," her dad said, hopefully.

The movie started to play, and the two started to forget about the other family member in Paris. They started to make fun of his costars: his love interest who didn't even want to touch Piper's dad, she said he was too old. Or her dad's supposed right-hand man in the movie, who didn't even talk to her dad at all during filming unless they were practicing their lines. This was all so stereotypical and cliche, but you'd be surprised to find out how many things actually are.

Piper's phone rang, she turned it to silent. Her dad's phone rand, he turned it to silent. It rang again. And again. And again. Piper's eyes caught her dad's, and she nodded so her dad could answer the phone. He paused the movie.

He answered, "Hello? Tristan McLean speaking. Yes. Uh huh. Alright. Okay. But, I'm with Piper right now. We're having movie night. No, I cannot reschedule." He made a frustrated noise and looked at Piper, mouthing, "I'm sorry."

She nodded, she should have known. It had always been work, then her. Perfect.

"Alright, I'll be there soon, bye." He turned to his daughter. "I'm sorry, Pipes. Raincheck?"

"Sure." Piper answered unenthusiastically.

"Great. Dinner's in the fridge and you can always call Mellie if you need anything, alright?" She nodded as he continued, "Okay, bye then. I love you."

"Love you, too," she said weakly. He kissed her on the head and left, leaving the movie paused and a half eaten bucket of popcorn.

Her phone rang again, she picked up. "Hello?"

"Piper! Thank the gods! I need help!" she heard Annabeth on the other line panicking

"What's up, Annabeth?"

"Jason asked me to go with him and Reyna to a stupid movie. And I have nothing to wear!"

"It's just the movies with Jason and Reyna, Annabeth. Chill," Piper tried to calm her.

"He said he'd bring a guy! A guy! What if it's someone hot! I need to look equally or more hot, PIper!" Annabeth practically shouted.

"Okay, okay. Just wear the black skater dress you always love and a jean jacket, with Converse. That should be good for you to look 'hot,'" Piper offered.

"Thanks, Piper. You da man!" Annabeth shouted, probably already at her closet finding the items.

"Welcome, have fun!"

"I'll try! Love youuuu!"

"Love you, too," Piper hung up. She took a deep breath and dialed Mellie. She was going to finish this movie and have a good night.

* * *

"Wow, Reyna, you look great," Jason said as he picked her up from her house. They were going to go to the movies with Percy and Annabeth. Percy. And Annabeth. Oh, gods, what had Jason gotten them into?

"So, what's the plan?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, you know, watch the movie with AnnabethandPercy," he said the last part very fast. Very fast.

"I'm sorry with who?!" Reyna practically shouted.

"Um, Annabeth and Percy?"

"Oh my God! Jason what did you do!"

"I thought that if they went on a date, they would go to the dance together!"

"Jason you are totally screwed!" Reyna said as she brought her fingers to her temples.

"Me? What about you!"

"You were the dumbass who set this up, remember?"

"Ughhhh," Jason bumped his head against the steering wheel as they got to a stop light.

He saw Percy first, then he saw Annabeth stand at least three feet away from him. Then, he saw them make eye contact. Then they screamed his name. He was about to back up. But then, Reyna got him to his senses. Bless her soul.

The two walked and approached them, "Hey, guys!" Jason said.

"Jason Grace what did you do!" Annabeth demanded.

"I, um, invited two friends to join me and Reyna to go see a movie?"

"Bro, not cool," Percy said.

"Seriously not cool," Annabeth agreed.

"Alright, we all know it was not cool, but do we wanna stay here and talk about how un-cool it was or see a movie?" Reyna asked.

The two, Percy and Annabeth, nodded and followed the other couple into the movie theater, Jason bought all the tickets on his phone, at least he did one thing right.

* * *

Percy nudged her shoulder, receiving dangerous glares. He put his arms up in defeat and said, "Hey, we're already here. Might as well try and act like friends." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The only thing Annabeth was glad that she did was wear a cute outfit. Percy loved her when she wore the black dress, and she could sense that he was eyeing her.

The group walked towards the concession stand and Jason ordered his and Reyna's food. Selfish.

Percy looked at her and asked, "Hey, Wise Girl, you still like layered butter popcorn and Sour Patch Kids?" She nodded, surprised to find Percy remember her go-to movie snacks. HE ordered them and his own favorites, blue Icee and a pretzel. Annabeth was about to get her wallet, but Percy waved it off and insisted in buying her food.

She said thanks and followed Jason and Reyna to the movie.

They found their seats in the top middle, the best seats Annabeth thought, and sat down in between Reyna and Percy. Annabeth glared daggers at Jason, and he smiled weakly at her. He knew he was going to face consequences later. The movie started and Percy and her shared the popcorn.

The movie would probably be an 87% on her scale, the plot was okay, but there were some plotholes here and there. The acting was pretty good, except for the one guy with a British accent, Annabeth swore there was always one guy with a British accent. The CGI was pretty good, so was the cinematography.

Percy had tried multiple times to put his hand on her thigh or arm on her shoulders. Both times she twisted his arms to a very uncomfortable position. Percy gave up and just drank his Icee and watched the movie. He seemed to like to movie, Annabeth stole glances at him every so often and smiled to herself as she saw him engrossed in the movie as well.

"You like the movie?" Percy asked her as they exited the theater.

"It was good, you?"

"I really liked it. I might have cried a little," Percy answered.

Annabeth laughed, and then they fell into silence. She looked at Percy and saw that he was looking at her intently, "What? Something on my face, again? Why is there always something on my face?"

"No, there's nothing on your face," he reassured.

"Then what?" Annabeth asked as she pushed the door open.

"Go to the dance with me, please?" Percy asked.

Annabeth was shocked, "I'm sorry?"

"Please, go to the dance tomorrow. Give me one more chance," Percy begged.

"Um, what about Drew? Aren't you two a thing?" Annabeth asked.

"I, um, told her that I was going with you instead," Percy confessed.

"You what!"

"I know, I know. Just, one dance. Please?" Percy tried one more time.

Annabeth gave in, "Fine. Just one."

Jason ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Congrats, guys!"

"Whoo hooo!" Reyna said and did a jig with Percy.

"Were you guys listening in?"

"Maybe," Jason started.

"Maybe not," Reyna ended cheekily.

* * *

 _A/N: Officially my longest chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed 3,330 words of this story! Sorry it was a lil late, but what can I say, I'm a procrastinator!_

 _I hope you enjoyed and are happy of clicking on this story when you were bored, thank you for reading!_

 _(also not gonna lie I've started writing the last chapter, but I'm not ending this story anytime soon I'm confused too)_

 _K, tell me what ya think, BAIIII_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	16. Dance the Night Away

_disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds AND DEFINITELY NOT HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL_

* * *

 **Annual Goode Dance; December 19th, 2015**

"May I have this dance?" the boy asked towards the girl with an outstretched hand.

She seemed to be taken off guard, like she had never been asked to dance so out of the blue, by a complete stranger. The boy would doubt it, though, the girl was gorgeous. He had heard rumors that she was dating someone, but right now, at this moment, she was completely alone and didn't seem to be together with anyone. She looked lost in thought when he approached her a few seconds ago.

"Um, sure, why not?" the girl answered back, she smiled and took the stranger's outstretched hand.

The two started to dance to the slow song, at first gingerly, as the were trying to get comfortable with each other since they were complete strangers. Goode was a big school, but during couple songs at the dances, it seemed like you were the only one not dancing with someone else.

"So, what's your name?" he asked her, looking at her colorful eyes.

She looked back towards him, "Oh, my name's..."

* * *

 **December 19th, 2015**

 **Morning Before the Dance**

Piper stared at her open locker. Books, reminders, food wrappers. She needed to clean her locker. Piper was trying to distract herself from all of the people asking each other to the dance at the last minute, and boys passing her by. She spotted Jason walking towards her and sighed in relief.

"Thank God, I can't stand all of the last minute asking outs. These guys don't know how girls feel waiting for someone to ask them out," she said as Jason opened his locker.

"And how do you feel, Ms. McLean?" he asked as he got his books out.

"That if a guy wanted me to be his date, then he would've asked me before the day of the dance," she answered as she closed her locker.

Jason chuckled and closed his locker as well. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and said, "It's okay, Pipes. I'll be your date."

She rolled her eyes and nudged him to the side, "You wish, Sparky."

"So, wanna see my tux? I got Thalia to help pick it out for me," Jason explained as he fumbled for his phone.

She nodded her head and craned her neck to see his phone. She saw it and knew that the suit was made for Jason. It was a deep navy blue made out of silk suit and had a certain shine to it. He had a picture of the corsage he was going to give Reyna: a violet that was royal purple. She knew that Reyna was a lucky girl.

"I like the corsage. Reyna's gonna love it," she smiled encouragingly.

"Thanks. Believe it or not, Leo helped pick it out, but I have a feeling that Calypso also saw it and helped out," he added and chuckled.

Piper laughed, "That's our Leo."

"The one and only," Jason agreed. "So, are you getting ready with Annabeth tonight?"

"Yup," Piper answered. "I don't even have a dress. I think I'm just gonna wing it."

"You'll look great," Jason reassured.

Piper paused, she didn't know if Jason was just being nice or what. He felt that she clammed up for a minute. "Thanks, dude," Piper said awkwardly, trying to save herself. She also threw in a fist bump, which he chuckled at and obliged.

"You okay, 'dude'?" Jason asked with a funny tone in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm 100%. Promise," Piper answered too quickly.

He gave her a side glance, but shrugged it off and changed the subject, "So, what's your go-to move at dances? Mines either the sprinkler or the awkward small fist bumps in the air." He demonstrated, taking his arm away from Piper's shoulders.

She laughed, "I don't think I have one. Maybe like a side step or something?"

Jason looked at her doubtfully, "Oh come on. You definitely have one. Just tell me."

"Oh, look! It's our classroom! I guess we don't have enough time for me to show you my moves, oh well."

"McLean, sooner or later I will see your moves," Jason pointed out.

"I'll take later if that's okay with you," Piper said, then walked into the classroom.

Jason rolled his eyes and walked in to catch up.

* * *

"Okay, so how the heck did I agree to go to the dance with Percy Jackson?" Annabeth slammed her lunch tray on the table.

"Why are you asking us? You should ask yourself that," Reyna pointed out as she at a fry.

"Yeah, how did the guy even get you to say yes?" Piper asked.

Annabeth put her head down and said, "Ugh, he was annoying me. It was the only way to shut him up."

Reyna laughed a little, bit another fry and teased, "You liiiiiike him."

Annabeth pulled her head up and glared at her, "Shut. Up."

Piper fake-gasped loudly, "It's true! Annabeth likes Percy Jackson. Again!"

Annabeth stood up and smacked the table, "Oh yeah, shout louder, Piper. I'm not sure the lunch lady heard that!"

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "When did this start to happen again?"

"Yeah, and why didn't you tell us?" Reyna asked as she bit three fries at once. Piper swore the girl could eat french fries for the rest of her life and not gain a pound.

"I dunno. One day I wanted to slit his throat, the next, I didn't," Annabeth shrugged.

"That's the sweetest this I've ever heard you say, Annie," Reyna teased.

"Reyna?"

"Yes?" said girl asked, eating another french fry.

"Shut up."

"Say please."

"Shut up. Please."

"Nope," the girl grinned and ate another fry.

Piper looked at them and said, "Hey, what about me?"

Annabeth looked at her, "You go shut up too."

"Nah, I'm good."

"Ugh, you guys are hopeless," Annabeth concluded as she bit her pear. Annabeth never ate pears, it was weird for her.

"No, you're hopeless. Hopelessly in loooove," Piper teased.

Annabeth chucked her finished pear at Piper, which Jason caught before it hit the girl. He tossed the eaten pear back to Annabeth and sat in-between Reyna and Piper. "What'd you guys do to make her throw a pear, again?"

"Again? Piper, have we made Annabeth throw a pear at us before?" Reyna asked.

Piper shook her head, "Not that I remember. Maybe Jason's thinking of that time with the apple."

"Oh, or the pizza!"

"Or maybe the chips!"

"What about that time with the carrots?"

"Okay, I get it. I have a problem with throwing stuff at you idiots," Annabeth intervened.

"That's totally right, Mrs. Jackson," Piper said cheekily.

Annabeth was about to throw the pear again when a hand grabbed it from her. She turned around to see Percy. Whose last name was Jackson. Annabeth prayed that he didn't hear any of that.

"Why were you about to throw a pear at her?" he asked, tossing and catching the eaten pear.

"She was being a butt," the blonde answered.

"She's always a butt," Jason replied, which Piper slapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely," Reyna agreed, who got a slap from Piper as well. Don't ask how she was able to slap her over Jason, no one knew.

"Okay, cool, I'm a butt. Thanks, guys," Piper said.

"Hey, you can be a Kim K butt if ya want," Jason offered. Piper elbowed him in the gut.

The bell rang, which ended all of their conversations about Piper being a butt and whose butt it would be.

"See you tonight?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"Yeah."

"Am I picking you up at Annabeth's?" Jason asked towards Reyna.

"I think so."

"Am I taking a ride with anyone?" Piper asked herself.

"Yeah, I'm hitchhiking with one of you guys," she answered herself and looked at the couples.

"I'm cool if your cool," Reyna said to Jason.

He shrugged, "Let's do it."

Piper punched her fists in the air and put her arms around their shoulders, barely getting both because they were so tall. "We'll have the best time EVAA!" She laughed and directed the couple out of the cafeteria, leaving Annabeth and Percy alone. All. Alone.

* * *

Jason was in the middle of trying, and failing, to tie his tie in his room when he heard a knock on his door. He turned around to see his sister, Thalia. He smiled at her weakly. "Did you sense my helplessnes through the floor, er, ceiling for you?"

She laughed and walked towards him and ruffled his hair, to Jason's dismay, "Your funny, lil bro. You act like you're not always helpless." She then started to tie his tie, it was a classic black tie with deep purple on the back. Thalia thought it was very Jason.

Jason started to fix his hair again as he huffed, "Gee, thanks. What a lovely thing to say to your dear brother who is freaking out."

Thalia looked at him weirdly, "What do you mean? Isn't this just another day in the life of Jason Grace. C'mon, I know for a fact that you've dated and probably, um, done it," she shovered after the last part.

Jason grimaced, "Um, you, like, heard stuff about it?"

"Hey, I may be in college, but I've still got connections," Thalia answered.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah, could we not talk about this right now? I have bigger problems," he walked over to his bed to get something. "How do I put on this corsage!" He looked helplessly at the flower bracelet thingy. He thought, _'Why did girls want flowers on their wrist at dances?'_

Thalia laughed as Jason put on his tuxedo jacket. "It's just like a bracelet, and Dad thinks you're the smart one in this family." She whacked him on the side of the head, as a result, he glared daggers at her.

"Well, at least, I still have the good looks of the family."

"Mhm, dream on," Thalia countered.

"So, um, how does this dance thing work again?" Jason asked.

"Easy," answered another voice from behind them. The two turned around to another voice, Piper was leaning against the door frame grinning.

"How'd you get in?" Jason asked surprised. He started to fix his hair in the mirror as Piper walked in more.

She nodded towards Thalia. "Your best friend is pretty cool, just so ya know," Thalia answered Jason's still-confused face.

"I thought you were going to get ready with Annabeth?"

"I did, but then Percy picked her up early and Reyna had to go to an early dinner with her family. She said for you to pick her up at her house," Piper answered.

Jason nodded and turned around to see Thalia and Piper making conversation. He finally had a good look at Piper, she looked great. He noticed she had put makeup on, for the first time in forever, but realized that it was only minimal. Most of her face was all natural, like the good old Piper. She was wearing an amazing dress: it was a royal blue dress with lace at the top half, the rest of the dress flared and stopped just above the knees. She had her hair the way it usually is with small braids all throughout her hair, a few strands curled. She looked great.

"So, you don't know how to dance, huh?" Piper asked, snapping Jason out of his thoughts, he noticed that Thalia wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Um, would it be bad if I said yes?"

"Yes."

"Then, no."

"You're lying aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Alright come on, I'm going to show you before you make a fool of yourself in front of Reyna." She outstretched her hand and he grabbed it weakly.

"Um, do you know how to dance?"

"Hell yeah, my dad taught me when I was little."

She put one of his hands on her waist and clasped the other. She started to move her feet, and he started to stumble and step on her feet multiple times as he kept looking at his feet. She pushed his eyes up to hers until they were locked. They were still until Piper shook her head and started to say, "Um, so basically just follow my lead, okay?" He nodded and kept his eyes one hers.

They moved in sync to no music for a few seconds. Piper broke the gaze first as she stopped, "Erm, yeah, see? Easy-peasy. I'll just go back downstairs to Thalia to leave you to it."

"Um, okay, you still catching a ride with me?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want me to cramp your style," she teased as she grinned.

"Not at all, see you in 5."

"Kay."

* * *

Reyna and Jason were taking a long time in her house, so Piper made herself at home in the backseat. She put her feet on one side and rested her back against the door and window and started to scroll on her phone. On Instagram she saw posts of overly-excited girls in their prom dresses mid-jump, on twitter she saw endless selfies of couples ready, and on snapchat, she saw the behind-the-scenes getting ready of people. Basically, she was bored, so she switched her app to Crossy Road and tried to beat her high score. **(a/n: my high score is like 100, lol what's yours?)**

She looked towards Reyna's house, it was magnificent, and Piper has seen her fair share of mansions. It had a brick driveway with a side garage, and the house itself was long and grand. The entryway of the house had columns coming down like Greek columns, the doors were in an upside down U shape. There was a total of 6 gigantic windows and a chandelier was seen hanging in the inside foyer.

Piper's eyes went back to her phone screen and saw that her dad had texted: **Hey, Pipes. Hope you're having fun at the dance I just wanted you to know that Mom is doing better today.**

She immediately texted back: **Has she woken up, yet?**

She heard a ding a few minutes later: **No, not yet, Pipes. Hopefully soon, though** **.**

She sighed and realized that she was crying. Piper was confused, she hadn't cried since her dad told her she had to move, and she definitely never cried about her mom. How could she cry about her mom if she was never even in her life, but yet here she was: crying in the backseat of an empty car.

Piper looked out the window and saw that Jason and Reyna were walking out, now. She hurriedly wiped away the tears and took a deep breath as Jason opened Reyna's door.

"Hey, Piper, sorry we took a long time. My parent's were making sure I was in good hands," Reyna explained as she buckled her seat belt.

Jason got in as well, "So, do you think they liked me?"

"Of course, how could they not?" Reyna answered. They looked at each other with a small smile on their faces.

"Okay, lovebirds, let's get this show on the road! To the dance!" Piper broke them away from their gaze.

Jason cleared his throat, "Um, yeah. Let's go."

 **-TIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSETIMELAPSEAVERYGOODTIMELAPSEIFISAYSOMYSELF-**

The beginning of the car ride was the longest 3 minutes of her life, but she finally put her playlist in the aux cord and got the car grooving. She entered the decorated gym to see hundreds of teenagers dancing or making out or eating food. So, it was basically like every day, but dark.

She saw Leo first, who was talking with Calypso, Annabeth and Percy. He waved them, Piper, Jason, and Reyna, over to come and join them.

"OOOOO, Beauty Queen you clean up well," Leo teased.

Calypso nudged him, "Hey, Piper. You look great."

She blushed, Piper hated attention, "Thanks, Calypso. You look great too." She heard Leo clear his throat, "And you look great too, Leo."

"I know, I just like hearing other people say it." He earned two punches at either of his shoulders.

"Hey, Piper," she heard from behind her.

She turned around to see Percy and Annabeth's hands holding, "Hey, guys. What time did you get here?"

"Maybe thirty minutes ago?" Percy asked Annabeth. She nodded in response. A slow song started to play, which brought Percy and Annabeth away to dance.

Leo held his hand out to Piper, "Wanna dance?"

She took his hand but looked around for his girlfriend, "What about Calypso?"

"Oh, she's dancing with her cousin right now. Don't worry, I asked her. She said she's cool."

Piper nodded and let him lead her to the dance floor and they started to dance.

* * *

"So, how do you think I did on the dance committee?" Reyna asked Jason as they slow danced.

He looked around, amazed at the decorations down to the detail. The theme was 'astronomy,' Reyna always hated the cliche titles. Tiny lights illuminated the ceilings and string lights were hung everywhere. Telescopes were set up at the windows, so people could see the stars and every so often on the walls were prints of mapped constellations. People serving wore constellation tuxedos and the tables near the food were covered in a deep blue sheet covered in stars.

"It's amazing, Rey." She blushed and tried to say that it wasn't amazing, "No, you did a really amazing job."

"Thanks, Jase."

"Always."

The song ended, and the two broke apart. Jason spotted Piper and Leo breaking apart from their dance and were heading towards the food. He pulled Reyna towards them.

Jason got stopped by one of his teammates, he let Reyna go ahead. "Hey, man. What's up?"

"Nothing, I was just gonna get food with Reyna," Jason answered.

"Dude, how come you didn't dance with Piper?"

"Why would I do that?" Jason was confused.

"Well, I mean, she's your date, so obviously you would dance with her. Do you know how to treat a date?"

His jaw fell down. He knew why no one had asked Piper out now, everyone thought he and Piper were going out. "No, dude, everyone's wrong. I'm here with Reyna."

"Don't be stupid, why would you be here with Reyna?"

"Why wouldn't I be with Reyna?" Jason raised his voice a little louder.

"Hey, man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be mean. I, er everybody really, thought that you were dating Piper. If they all knew she was free, everyone would be asking her out."

"Mhm. Okay, well see ya, man," Jason answered calmly. He left, going towards Reyna, and more importantly, Piper.

* * *

 _A/N: Alright, I was thinking that I should make the dance a two-parter 'cause this chapter is going to turn into like 6,000 words, and like no one will finish it, but you all have been waiting patiently, so I guess I'll finish the dance in one whole chapter. I really hope this doesn't turn out to be 6,000 words, but it probably will._

* * *

"What was that about?" Leo asked as he gulped some of the punch.

Calypso took it away from him, "Leo, take it easy, you're going to get hyper."

"Relax, it's my second cup."

"Yeah, this time. You drank like 10 at the beginning of the dance. I'm surprised you haven't needed to pee yet," Percy said.

"Hey, I have peed. You wouldn't know that, though."

"Mhm, likely story," Piper said as she ate a cookie.

"So," Reyna started as she ate a fry, she was obsessed, "What are we going to do for the rest of the night?"

"Well, we could dance, look at stars, go outside, make out," Leo trailed on and on but noticed the group staring at him.

"Make out? Really?" Jason asked pointedly as he sipped his water.

"I'm just throwing out ideas! Do you have any better ones, Grace?"

"Actually, I," Jason started but was stopped immediately as he heard Piper scream as she stood away from the group, facing the dance floor. "Pipes! What's up! What happened!"

"Oh my God! Guuuuyyyys guess what song is playing!" she screamed excitedly, she started to jump up and down, which scared everyone in the group. They couldn't hear so they asked Piper what was playing.

"WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER FROM HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! OHMYGOD I CAN'T BREATHE. HOW ARE WE NOT DANCING YET? THE SONG IS ALMOST TO THE CHORUS! GUYS COME ON!" Piper exclaimed and grabbed everyone, dragging them to the dance floor. **(a/n: hi, my name is songsaboutjasper and I am obsessed with High School Musical and am not looking forward to HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 4 BECAUSE HSM3 ENDED ON SUCH A GOOD NOTE AND GOT A HIGHER RATING THAN SPECTRE AND DISNEY CHANNEL WILL RUIN IT. IF YOU AGREE COMMENT: ONCE A WILDCAT ALWAYS A WILDCAT)**

The group was pulled into a circle: Jason next to Reyna, who was next to Leo, who was next to Calypso, who was next to Percy, who was next to Annabeth, who was next to Jason. Piper, of course, was in the middle belting the lyrics. Jason saved the details, but let's just say that if she was in a contest of people who knew High School Musical songs, then she would win no doubt.

She danced around like she had the time of her life and the group surrounding her was laughing and singing along with her. Piper was even doing the dance moves with the chorus.

The song ended, leaving a winded Piper. "That was amazing! I haven't heard that song in ages."

"Really? It sounds like you just listened to it," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, I think you're obsessed," Calypso agreed.

"Hey, I'm not obsessed I'm just a dedicated fan," Piper defended.

Jason shook his head, "Sure you are, Pipes."

She pushed him and grinned, "You wish you were as cool as me, Grace."

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"So, what should we do now?" Leo asked.

Percy offered, "Annabeth and I are gonna head over to the telescopes, any of you wanna join?"

Piper and Reyna shot Annabeth suggestive eyebrows. The blonde just glared at her best friends. "I think they'll be fine, Perce," she answered for everyone. "Right, guys?" Small yesses from the group were heard, and Percy and Annabeth walked away. Reyna and Piper gave each other a look that read, 'We are going to make her spill right after.'

"So, me and Calypso are going to head towards the food," Leo stated. "You coming, Piper?" he asked.

She looked between Jason and Reyna, "Yeah, I'm coming." She walked to Jason and punched him lightly before saying, "Go get 'em Tiger."

He rolled his eyes and saw her walk away. "So, what do you wanna do?" he asked Reyna.

"Um, whatever you want, I guess."

"I have something to show you, then," Jason smiled and took her hand, he looked at her making sure she was okay with it. Reyna grinned and followed him.

Jason brought her outside, behind the school, a courtyard that was hidden from the freshmen and new people at the school. The fences that surrounded the flowers were decorated with fairy lights. The single street lampost was on the side, letting Jason see Reyna.

"So, how's the dance so far?" he asked as they sat on the single bench in the middle. It was completely quiet other than the low buzz of music coming from inside.

"I think it's going well. What about you?"

"Well, I think it's going to be better, now that I can finally do this," Jason said as he leaned in towards her. He was low-key panicking that Reyna would push away and scream at him for trying to kiss her, but was surprised at what she did. She leaned in as well, their lips connecting. The kiss was sweet for a few seconds until Jason grabbed her waist and went in for a deeper one. Reyna obliged as she wrapped her arms around his neck and the two found themselves making out in the courtyard all alone.

* * *

"Piper, are you okay?" Leo asked as Calypso sat in his lap, playing with his hair. The two were pukingly adorable to Piper.

She was playing with her cup of punch, just thinking. She was thinking about Percy and Annabeth, she was thinking about what Leo and Calypso were thinking, and she was thinking about where Jason and Reyna went. She really hoped they worked out, Jason seemed so smitten for her, it almost made Piper forget about her feelings for him. Almost. 'Wait, do I have feelings for Jason?' Piper thought. She hoped to the stars above that she didn't.

She saw Percy and Annabeth walking towards them and sit down next to her. "What were you two lovebirds doing?" Piper asked, snapping away from her thoughts.

"Annabeth was telling me all about the constellations. Yeah, I was learning," Percy said.

"You brought me to look at the stars!"

"I just wanted to _look_ at the stars not learn about them!"

Annabeth huffed, "You should have told me."

"Nah, I was having fun anyway. You messed up a couple of times."

Annabeth slapped him and Leo laughed, which made Calypso accidentally drop her drink in his lap.

"Sorry!"

"Nah, it's fine. At least I have an extra pair of pants in my locker," Leo shrugged it off.

Piper looked at him weirdly, "Why do you have an extra pair of pants?"

"For times like this, McLean."

She put her hands up in defeat, "Just asking, dude."

Piper saw Jason walk in first, he was holding hands with Reyna. He locked eyes with Piper, she suppressed a smile.

They walked towards her and she said, "Hey, where were you guys?"

"Oh, um, I just took Reyna for a walk," Jason stuttered. Piper could see that his hair was messed up and his tie had been pulled, Piper tried not to imagine what happened on their 'walk.'

Reyna nervously laughed, "Um, yeah. It was a good walk." Annabeth nudged Piper and gave her a knowing look. Percy sat, mouthing words at Jason, who gave a grave look towards him.

"So, I'm gonna go and dance. Come on Percy," Annabeth announced and pulled Percy to the dance floor.

Jason and Reyna stood there awkwardly, until a slow song started. Jason and Reyna looked at Piper pityingly she said to them, "Go ahead and dance. I'll be fine here with my Oreos."

Reyna looked at her gratefully and brought Jason to the dance floor and he looked back at her mouthing a, 'Thank you.' Piper nodded her head and plastered a grin on her face. The whole dance had been a little lonely for Piper, since all of her friends had a significant other, even Leo which blew her mind.

She sighed and ate the cream of the Oreo and started to think about what it would've been like to go with a date. Just as she was about to imagine what would have happened, a boy came over with an outstretched hand.

"May I have this dance?" Piper looked at him surprised, he was cute. He wore a gray silk suit, his tie a navy blue. He had blue eyes and messy blonde hair.

She realized that he was still waiting, so she answered, "Um, sure, why not." Piper took his hand and he lead her to the dance floor.

They started dancing uncomfortably, until it seemed that Piper and him had gotten into the groove of the music.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Oh, my name's," Piper started until she heard a voice from behind her.

"Piper!" Leo said and gave her a wolf whistle.

She rolled her eyes and apologized, "Sorry 'bout him. He's my best friend, but a pain in the ass."

He laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, I know how that feels. Mine is a pain too."

"So, what's your name?"

"Oh, Luke. Nice to meet you, Piper," he said and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, too."

The two danced in silence, feeling the rhythm of the music. Piper blushed as he gripped her waist a little more tightly. She blushed when he twirled her, and she blushed when they got back to normal and danced closely.

He looked at her again and said, "So, how come you aren't with your date?"

Piper was confused and asked, "What do you mean? I'm not with anybody."

"Aren't you with that kid, the basketball player, um, Jason?" he asked confused.

"Nooo way, he and I are just best friends. What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, um, like a ton of guys were talking about it," he saw her expression and said quickly, "Nothing bad, they were just bummed they couldn't ask you."

"Well, they were wrong. I'm single."

"Cool," he said.

Afterwards, they started to talk about each other, Piper learned that he ate macaroni and cheese with ketchup. He learned that she hated ketchup and that she grew up in LA, she learned that he'd been to LA multiple times. They were slowly becoming friends from this one dance.

The song ended and Piper let go of him as he let go of her waist. She went one way, and he went the other. It was all very confusing, for Piper and Luke

* * *

 _A/N: Alright, I've decided to stop her cause this chapter is already at 4,989 words lol..._

 _I hope you guys enjoyed and if anyone actually finished it, congrats cause I can't imagine anyone being able to finish this._

 _Let me know what you thought and if your predictions on how the dance happened came true. I didn't upload last week, cause I wanted this chapter to be really good, and hopefully you guys thought that!_

 _AND CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HSM4: WE DON'T NEED IT. HSM3 WAS AN AMAZING FINALE AND GOT A BETTER SCORE ON ROTTEN TOMATOES THAN SPECTRE. DISNEY JUST WANTS MONEY AND KENNY ORTEGA ISNT EVEN DIRECTING AND CHOREOGRAPHING._

 _k, i'm done._

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	17. A Plan of Action

disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize :)

* * *

"So, on a scale from one to ten," Piper said to Jason as she jumped onto his couch in his living room. "How bad do I smell." She scooted closer to him, practically making him smell her.

"Why do you need to know this? Do you really need to know? Don't you know yourself? Can't you ask Annabeth or something?" Jason asked as he gingerly sniffed her.

"Can't a girl ask her bestie how she smells? Does society tell us all that we can't ask people if we smell bad?" Piper started to stand on the couch. "Does society dictate to us that we are not allowed to ask a close friend if our odor is bad or good?" Piper started to shout. "How can society tell us what to do if society isn't even a person? I for one do not think society is someone we should follow!" Piper started to turn red. "SOCIETY DOES NOT TELL PIPER MCLEAN WHAT TO DO!" After she finished, Piper bowed, waiting for applause

Jason felt obliged to clap. He did. "That was beautiful. No that was truly beautiful. If something was beautiful that would be it. What you just said right there. Seriously, Piper. How is that not in the book of beauty?" Note the sarcasm oozing out of his voice.

Piper flipped the birdie at him and bounced down to where she was sitting before, as she changed the channel from The Flash to another TV show. Jason screamed. Loudly.

"PIPER MCLEAN YOU DID NOT JUST CHANGE THE CHANNEL. I SWEAR IF YOU DID I WILL HURT YOU IN WAYS YOU DID NOT THINK HOW." Jason jumped on her and started to tickle her on her sides, making her scream unmentionable words.

"JASON GET OFF OR I'LL TELL YOUR GIRLFRIEND THAT YOU'RE LEAVING HER FOR BARRY ALLEN!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW I HAVEN'T TOLD HER ALREADY?" Jason shouted and continued to torture her by tickling her.

"Okay, Mr. Allen, you can stop tickling her now," an amused voice from behind them said.

Jason stopped as the two looked towards the open front door to find Leo Valdez holding up a taco bag.

"Aw yeah, buds. Guess who brought the stuff? I did!" he then proceeded to do a happy dance of some sort that included the sprinkler, lawn mower, and other moves that did not even have names.

"Alright, calm down Micheal Jackson, before you break something," Piper answered.

Jason chuckled as Leo stopped and brought the taco bags to the table. "At least he didn't strip this time."

"Oh yeah, last time that happened I had nightmares," Piper agreed.

Jason high fived her and said, "Preach it, sister."

"Wow. Thanks for all the support you guys. Just so you know, I only strip in front of my real true friends. So don't expect me to strip in front of y'all anymore," Leo said as he took out two meat tacos and a tofu one. He handed one to Piper and Jason and said, "Tofu for Beauty Queen and meat for Jasey-Wasey."

"Thanks, man," Jason said as he opened the taco and chomped on it. He sighed and said, "Mmm. Dude, where do you get these? They're sooo good."

"Uh uh uh. That's my secret." He took a bite of his own and asked Piper, "You just enjoy the ride. How 'bout you Beauty Queen? You like your tofu?"

Piper took a bite and nodded her head as she closed her eyes, "Dude, gimme the person who made this. I'm in desperate needs of new vegetarian recipes."

"No can do, Señorita. Like I told Jasey," Leo ruffled Jason's hair. "I can't tell you who made them tacos. Family secret. But, maybe one day you or Jason will marry me and you get to find out."

"Sorry, Leo. Jason's heart already belongs to Barry Allen."

Leo winced, "You changed the channel from The Flash didn't you?"

"Hell yeah, she did. She got payback, though. She got the tickling."

Leo gasped obnoxiously, "No! Not the tickling!"

Piper nodded, "Oh yeah. Biggest mistake of my life. You won't find me changing the channel from The Flash anytime soon."

The three ate the rest of their tacos and continued to talk about random stuff like Leo's obsession with Coldplay and how Piper couldn't eat carrots unless she could dip them in ranch or hummus. They also talked about the deep stuff: Leo's family, Piper's mom, Jason's grades. They were teens who had fun but still went through things and told their best friends. It was a relationship like no other.

"So, what if I told you guys I danced with someone on Friday?" Piper asked upside down, one of her legs was on Jason's lap the other was on the part of the couch where you leaned back on.

"I was wondering where you went! One minute you are a loner eating fries, the next you vanish!" Leo said from the floor as he leaned against the bottom of the sectional.

Jason ate popcorn then said, "Yeah, you didn't come back to us until a few songs later. Who were you with?"

"A guy," Piper said as she faintly blushed. The boys looked at her suggestively, "And his friends!" Piper said quickly.

It was the truth. She met with two of his friends named Frank and Hazel, they were cool people. They were extremely shy at first, but once they warmed up to you, they were hilarious. Frank did not know how to dance whatsoever and Hazel was an amazing artist, she showed Piper a few of her drawings she did on napkins. There was serious tension between the tow, making it easy for Piper to have a feeling that Hazel and Frank liked each other.

"So," Jason started. "Who's this mystery boy?" he teased, "He cute?"

"Oh, I bet he's hawt! He a good kisser?" Leo said nudging her.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Sorry boys, can't share those details." The fact that there was nothing to share in detail was also true. She didn't know how she thought of Luke. He was cute, but it was only one dance. She needed to make sure he wasn't a serial killer before she did anything with him.

"Aw come on, Pipes! At least tell us what his name was," Jason whined. He threw popcorn at her, which she caught in her mouth. This resulted in Leo screaming, "OHHHHHHHHH!" and shaking his head furiously.

"You gotta pick up your pace, Grace. I'm beating you in all sports."

"Easy, McLean. I'm going easy on you," Jason answered, throwing more popcorn in his mouth.

"So, spill. Give us at least a name," Leo said, turning over onto his stomach.

"No, I can't! He's probably nothing, anyways. Just a random dance."

Jason and Leo both look unconvinced but decided to not push anymore. "Mhm," was all Leo said.

They watched Avengers Age of Ultron after, to lighten the mood. The movie consisted of Leo constantly talking about Chris Evans and Piper booing every time Dr. Banner and Natasha had a moment.

Leo passed out on the couch right after the movie, but Jason and Piper were still going strong purely from candy.

"So, Reyna," Piper started.

"Yeah, I guess that's a thing now," Jason said from beside her.

Piper nudged him, "Is it great? It's what we've been practicing for. You think I'm a good teacher?"

"Oh yeah. If whatever you're thinking of doing doesn't work out, I see a bright future of couple training for you," Jason said teasingly. He smiled at her then said, "But seriously, thanks, Pipes."

She beamed at him, "You are very welcome, Mr. Allen." Piper took a deep breath, "So, do you really like her?"

Jason sighed and began, "I don't know. We've only been going out for like two days, you've gotta give me more time, Pipes."

"At least tell me if you think it'll last."

"The thing is I don't know if it will."

"Do you want it to?"

"To what?" he asked curiously.

"To last. Do you want you and Reyna to last?"

"Well, I mean, I guess." He sounded unsure. Piper gave him a ' _Come on' type of look.'_ "Fine. Yes. I really want it to."

Piper nodded, this was the answer she had been waiting for. The answer that she needed to hear. She needed the answer that would make her finally finish the thoughts she had been thinking.

"Treat her well," Piper said as Jason answered okay.

They drifted into a comfortable silence, just them two sitting next to each other and enjoying the other's presence.

•••

Jason woke up to the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. He was happy. He walked over to the kitchen to see Piper and Leo working together to make breakfast and jamming to music. Jason listened closely and realized it was High School Musical. Of course, it was.

"WE'RE SOARING!" Leo screamed as he held a spatula.

"FLYING THERE'S NOT A STAR IN HEAVEN THAT WE COULD REACH!" Piper finished as she shook some salt on the bacon that was frying.

"IF WE'RE TRYING THEN WE'RE BREAKING FREE!" Jason sang, resulting in the two looking at him.

"Dude, not cool. We were having a moment," Leo said pretending to be hurt.

"Yeah, Jason. Go sing with someone else. This is mine and Leo's time to shine."

He raised his hands up in defeat, "Fine, fine. I just wanted to feel like I was a part of the group. I guess I'll just eat these pancakes alone." He grabbed the pancakes from the counter and sluggishly walked towards the dining table.

"Fine, you can join in," Piper said pityingly.

"Is nothing sacred to you?!" Leo interjected. "But, Jason can join," Jason grinned and started to sing with them as they brought breakfast to the table. Piper had the eggs and bacon as Leo held a spatula and sang to it while doing the splits. Jason didn't know Leo was that flexible.

They all sat at the table, grabbing bacon and eggs on their plate, except for Piper who was eating a donut.

"So, let me get this straight since Piper is vegetarian we get to eat animals and she gets A DONUT. I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS INJUSTICE. IT IS NOT MY FAULT THAT SHE DOES NOT LIKE ANIMALS AND IT IS NOT MY FAULT THAT I DO NOT HAVE A DONUT. But I want one," Jason said frustratedly and chomped on his bacon, making a loud crunch.

"Calm down, princess. There's still a box full of 'em in the fridge," Piper said as she rolled her eyes and chugged her milk.

Jason and Leo locked eyes for about two seconds, then they bolted and ran for the fridge. They opened it and say the glorious box of donuts. They fist bumped each other and brought the donut box outside towards the kitchen island. They opened it and they both screamed.

It was hilarious. There were fake spiders in the box, and as soon as the boys saw it Leo jumped into Jason's arms as Piper took a photo with the flash on.

"IF YOU SEND THOSE PHOTOS TO ANYONE, I SWEAR MCLEAN I WILL TAKE YOUR STITCH TSUM TSUM AND THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW!" Leo shouted.

Jason ran over to Piper, took her phone, and chucked it out of the kitchen as she screamed, "NOT MY TSUM TSUM!"

She went down on her knees and begged Leo. He came up to her and hugged her whispering, "It's alright. It's all over now. Stitch is safe. He's fine."

"Say so for yourself, Imma put him in my safe to make sure you don't get your filthy hands on him," Piper smashed her fork into the waffles that she started to eat after she finished her donut. She chomped on them as she glared at Leo.

Jason calmly sat down, still looking scarred from the box of spiders, and gingerly drank his orange juice before asking, "So, remember at the beginning of the month when you said that we should prank Percy?"

Piper looked at Leo confused but saw a grin spreading across his impish face. He, of course, remembered.

"I'm glad you asked, compadre. I have the perfect plan. Why don't you call Chase up, Pipes. And you," he looked at Jason who seemed to have forgotten the earlier events and was already stuffing his face with bacon, "Can call your lovely girlfriend up. It's time to mess with the Jackson."

* * *

"Explain to me what I am doing here, with the three of you chomping away on your breakfast whereas I haven't even brushed my hair yet?" Thalia, Jason's sister, yawned, her bedhead still seen.

Jason shrugged, "Help yourself. I don't even know why you're up."

Thalia whacked him in the head as she headed to the island where the dishes were held. On the counter was the box of spiders, she just rolled her eyes. She grabbed a plate and started to put a mountain load of food on it.

Piper sipped her milk and ate her waffles happily. She started, "So, what's your extravagant plan, Mr. Valdez?"

He held up a finger and pointed it towards the door of the kitchen. A second later, it swung open and in came Annabeth Chase. As she sat down, Leo stood from his chair and gestured toward her before saying, "Ladies and gentleman, I present to you our prank that we will pull on Mr. Percy Jackson."

Annabeth stole Piper's plate, which Piper wasn't using since she finished her waffles, and started to put some bacon on it. "So, your big master plan is me?"

"Oh yes," Leo sat back down and put his arms behind his head in a relaxed position. "Brilliant, right?"

Jason rolled his eyes, "Mhm. Yes. Brilliant. Your whole plan is Annabeth. Why don't you have a Nobel Prize yet?!"

"Okay," Leo put his hands up in defeat, "I get it. I haven't perfected it, but still. It's a great start."

Piper licked her lips from her finished waffles and crossed her arms as she looked at Leo. She didn't know what was going on in his head, but she knew that he had more of a plan than he was letting on. She just had to get it out of him. But how?

Thalia passed the four of them at the table with a donut in her mouth and a load of food on her plate, as she ruffled Jason's head as she exited from the kitchen. "Good luck, losers!" she said, taking the donut out of her mouth and swinging the door open to the other side.

Piper looked at Annabeth who ate a few pieces of her bacon strips then drank her orange juice. Annabeth's hair fell in front of her eyes, before she brushed it away as she stared out the window, lost in her thoughts. Piper raised her eyebrows at her before saying, "What do you think about this, Annie?"

Annabeth's head snapped back to reality as she glared it Piper. "Piper, don't call me that!" She just received a cheeky grin from said person. "I don't know. I haven't even thought of the prank at all since we had that conversation at the beginning of the month. Do we even have to do it?"

"YES! It's our last hurrah for 2015, let's make it count, Ms. Chase!" Leo screamed, afterwards Jason stated chanting, "YES! YES! YES! YES!"

Piper rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders at Annabeth as if saying, 'I guess we have to, they won't stop,' Annabeth nodded her head as if she was saying, _'These losers have no life.'_ At least that's what Piper got from the nod.

"Alright, idiots, what's your plan?"

Leo smiled, with a mischievous glint in his eye, "Oh, you both are going to love it."

* * *

For the first time in forever, Jason tried to not sing Frozen, his girlfriend was late to something. Maybe it was because it was early, even though it was already 8:45 and Reyna was always wide awake at that time, or something else, she was late. This was new for everyone.

The group found themselves waiting for her in the living room as Jason was re watching season 1 of The Flash. It had been on break from the mid-season finale so all he could do to cope was re-watch. And re-watch. And re-watch.

"JASON GRACE DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN RE WATCH SEASON 1 OF THE FLASH?!" he heard a voice scream as they came from the kitchen. He lifted his head up to see Piper standing behind him, arms crossed, looking furious.

"What will you do about it, McLean if I keep watching?" he grinned at her as she walked over and sat next to him, her arms still crossed.

"I have given up. This is what a given up person looks like. Yep. Whenever you need to see a given up person, just look at me." She fell sideways, the back of her head landing in his lap.

"It's okay, McLean," Jason began to pet her head jokingly, "It's good to admit your defeat. BUT I HAVEN'T." Jason resulted into tickling her sides, where she was the weakest.

"JASON GRACE STOP IT! STOP IT NOOWWW! STOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPP!" Laughter started to sound from her mouth as she inevitably smiled.

"I don't know. Unless you pledge to watch all of season 1 of The Flash with me, I WILL NEVER STOP!" Jason shouted victoriously as he continued to tickle Piper.

Leo walked into the mess with a handful of chips stuffed in his mouth.

He stopped mid-step as Piper begged, "LEO! HELP MEEE."

A grin spread across his face as he said, "You know, a good friend would help a girl out," he paused, looking at Piper's helpless eyes. "But a best friend would tickle them even more." He pounced on the couch and Jason and him started to tickle Piper like there was no tomorrow.

"GUYYYS, stop it or I SWEAR I will do something to both of you in your sleep!"

They continued on, getting Piper's weak spots on the bottoms of her feet and the sides of her stomach. Laughter echoed from the high ceilings and if Reyna walked in, a smile would immediately appear on her face. It was the sound of a good time.

"Okay guys, that's enough," Annabeth sounded behind the three. She had her arms crossed and had an amused expression on her face.

Leo looked at her and immediately stopped, starting to eat the rest of his chips. Jason was thinking that Leo didn't want Annabeth to get any of his.

"Traitor," he said underneath his breath. Jason looked at Annabeth, but quickly broke his gaze and continued, "Not," he kept tickling, "Until," he kept tickling, "She," he kept tickling, "Pledges." He kept tickling.

"FINE! I GIVE UP! YOU WIN! I'LL WATCH!"

Jason kept tickling, persistent, "All the episodes?"

"YES!" Piper shouted in despair, continuing to laugh, her stomach hurting.

Jason stopped and grinned victoriously, watching as Piper grabbed her stomach.

"Well," Leo said as he laid on the couch, his head in Piper's lap who was now sitting straight, "Ready to get down to business?"

"I am going to ignore that. I don't want to sing Mulan right now. Someone decided to KILL my stomach," Piper gave Jason a look and smacked him hard in the arm.

He chuckled and hit her back, a fight starting to happen. In the middle of it Leo got hit in the face, his chips went flying. Then, a chip hit Annabeth in the face, resulting into a full on pillow fight between the four.

Just then the doorbell rang, then a click, then footsteps walking in. Reyna came into view a few seconds later and Jason leaped up from his position, laying on Annabeth's stomach.

"Hey," she said, before they started to kiss.

"Ugh, PDA!" Annabeth said before throwing a handful of Cheez-Its at the two from the floor.

Jason caught a piece with his mouth and grinned at Annabeth, who just rolled her eyes and went to sit back on the couch.

His living room was spacious, he had a huge flatscreen TV which had a sectional on two sides, that were almost as comfortable as Jason's bed, and another couch on the other side that was just as comfortable, that was the one Annabeth occupied.

Jason pulled Reyna to the side of the sectional that wasn't being occupied by Piper and Leo. After the fight they found themselves with Leo sitting with his feet on the coffee table and Piper laying on his stomach. He sat down that ushered her to sit on his lap, she refused and copied Leo's position.

"So now that we're all here, ready to here my master plan?" Leo said excitedly, he pushed Piper's head off his laugh, resulting in a huff of anger, and looked at each person's expression, hoping that each matched his excitement.

He looked at Piper last and saw that she had a dopey smile on her face as she texted someone on her phone. "Hello?!" he waved his hand in front of her then took her phone and threw it at Annabeth. "This is important, McLean! Get it together!"

"Okay, okay," she sat back into the couch.

"Ready?"

"Ready," they all said.

•••

"Leo, that is sooo stupid," Piper said skeptically.

"I agree with the brunette," Jason said, playing with Reyna's hair.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders, "I've heard worse."

The group looked at her, confused, even Leo. She was Annabeth Chase, the girl was a perfectionist when it came to plans and anything that was important. Leo's idea wasn't as bad as Piper and Jason made it out to be, but it would be pretty stupid to an all-A student.

"Really?" Leo said excitedly, his faith in humanity restored.

"Really," Annabeth gave him her best smile.

"Let's get 'er done, then."

* * *

 _A/N: Yep, I'm alive, just to let anyone know. Probably no one cares X)_

 _Anyways, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in like 1,345,236 years. Literally. And this chapter wasn't my best, but I still hoped that at least one of you liked it! Thanks for reading!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	18. The Prank of Epic Proportions

_disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker_

* * *

"So, let me get this straight, I'm the only one doing this prank?" Annabeth asked. She was lying on her bed, the rest of the group either on the floor or on the bed as well.

Annabeth's room was large for the average teen. Inside was a queen sized bed with maroon bedding, there were white walls, a small flat screen facing the bed, a large desk with piles of papers on it and a powered off laptop that usually had sketches of future buildings Annabeth wanted to create. On her walls, more sketches of future buildings and designs.

Leo tossed up a toy ball, which was found in one of Annabeth's miscellaneous bins, as he was lying on Annabeth's bed. "That was my plan, but if you want we could all do it as well," he offered.

Piper shrugged, her shoulders pushed up the pillows that were holding her up. "I'll do it. It's harmless, really."

"That's what you think," Leo said, throwing the ball, it flew to the other side of the room, out of his reach.

Jason caught the ball, easily, with one hand, his other arm around Reyna. The two were sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Reyna was playing with Jason's hand that was around her.

"I'm in. I think it'll be pretty funny," Reyna said.

Annabeth nodded after she sat up from her comfortable position on her bed. "Come on, McLean. We gotta do homework." She got up and reached her hands out for Piper to grab onto.

Piper obliged to Annabeth's hands and got pulled up, but not before complaining, "UGH, what about them?" Piper gestured to the rest of the group. "Plus, it's the beginning of Christmas break." She received glares from both Jason and Leo, who were both procrastinating on their own homework.

"It's bad enough that you have to do homework, Piper, DO NOT bring us into this!" Leo said before throwing the toy ball at Piper.

She caught it and stuck her tongue out at him before throwing it at his head and hitting on target. She jumped onto Annabeth's spinny office chair and started to turn furiously. Annabeth reached out her hand and stopped it abruptly, giving Piper a look that said, ' _Piper, you are so amazingly awesome, but you need to get your homework done._ ' At least that was what Piper wanted to think Annabeth said. Okay, maybe she only said the last part.

"Ugh, fine. But I'm only finishing math," Piper answered back grudgingly as she picked up her heavy backpack and slammed it on Annabeth's desk.

Annabeth grinned happily, "Fine with me."

Leo threw the ball once again, this time too high, hitting the ceiling and hitting Jason who was occupied with his own conversation with Reyna. "Sorry, mi hermano, if I could just have that back I won't bother you anymore," Leo apologized cheekily.

Jason just chuckled and rolled his eyes and threw the ball back to Leo, he seemed eager to get back to his conversation. "It's cool, so when are we planning to go to the movies with Perce? Me and Reyna were going to get some ice cream before then."

"Ice cream? During December in New York? I would've thought you were smarter than that, Grace," Piper said, doing her math homework and not facing him. Jason could still tell that there was a smile spreading across the brunette's face.

"As the kids would say, 'YOLO,' right McLean?" The blond said, getting up and pulling Reyna, as well. He passed by Piper and looked over her shoulder, "The answer is 7194, by the way." Piper looked up from her paper, which had countless scratchings of her work that was wrong, and glared at Jason.

He took Reyna's hand and blew a kiss at her saying, "Text me the deets, will you?" He changed his voice, trying to sound like an obnoxious girl, "Thanks, love!"

* * *

"Thank you," Jason said to the barista, outstretching his hands to grab two steaming hot coffees for him and Reyna.

The two decided to follow Piper's advice and headed for something that was more practical during the Christmas season. The two walked to a coffee shop that was only a few blocks away from Annabeth's home/apartment. Their hands were locked during the whole way; they talked about what they were doing with their families for Christmas. It was the season for family, after all.

"Thank you," Reyna said, afterward smiling and taking a warm sip of her black coffee. "So, tell me, Jason Grace, have your dreams changed since fifth grade when we were best friends and you told me you wanted to be a firefighter?"

He chuckled and stirred his coffee as he sat next to her, looking out the window and seeing couples walk their dogs in the cold snow, elderly men playing chess, kids creating snowmen, the usual things that Jason loved to look at. The things he planned to do in his lifetime. He already checked off the snowman part.

"Jason?"

"Sorry?" he said, breaking away from the outside world and looking at his new girlfriend, Reyna. He couldn't believe she was here: right in front of him for the taking.

"Your dreams?"

"Right," he cleared his throat. "Well, a Congressman is pretty good, I guess. I'm really into politics and Harvard or Princeton seem like a nice fit." Jason said this all in a proper tone, almost like it was routine for him. It was. Every time he was with his dad and his colleagues they asked Jason what he wanted to do with his life: that was the answer, the answer that his dad taught him to say at a very young age.

"Right," Reyna said, looking at him unconvinced. "What's your real answer, now?"

He looked at her: his longest best friend, well, excluding the years of high school. Why couldn't he trust her? It wasn't that he didn't trust her or that he wasn't comfortable with her. It was something more. It wasn't like when he was with Piper and he could let loose, or when he was with Leo and he didn't worry about how he seemed. Reyna was more calculating and smart, she was always on alert and Jason felt like she was always judging everyone.

Nevertheless, he told her the truth. He didn't have time to make anything up. "I don't know," he stared at his swirling coffee that he had yet to take a sip of. "It's weird, I feel like my whole life is planned out: I could easily follow it, but I don't want to. I don't want to live a life I didn't choose."

"Huh," Reyna said, huffing. "I don't get it."

"What?" Jason said, confused. He looked at Reyna, who's eyes were looking at the situation, calculating, estimating. It wasn't like Piper's: understanding, looking at a different angle or point of view.

"You have this whole life that you could choose. This whole life that's ready for you to take and become successful, yet you don't take it. I'm sorry, I don't get it." Afterward, she hurriedly walked out and brought her coffee with her, leaving Jason in the booth, confused and speechless.

* * *

Piper was lying on her bed. She finished her homework with Annabeth, after a ton of screaming and complaining on Piper's part. Jason came over after his short coffee date with Reyna, with a bajillion things to say to her.

"I just don't understand girls. Why do you guys have to be so confusing?!" Jason said from his position next to Piper, though he was lying on his back instead of his stomach, unlike Piper, who was.

Piper rolled her eyes, "You think we're confusing? How about you? I bet she's wondering why she even said yes to go to the dance with you in the first place after sleeping with practically the whole grade. I bet she's wondering why you took a complete 180 in just a few short weeks."

Jason stayed silent, looking at Piper curiously.

She looked at him, thinking she messed up. ' _Piper, you don't just go around and tell your best friend what your other best friend told you in private, even if you agreed with the statement the other best friend made.'_

"Something you're not telling me, Pipes?" Jason positioned himself so he was looking at her.

"Well," Piper avoided Jason all together and looked straight at her open door that led to the massive staircase in the hallway. "I mean, I don't blame Reyna." She paused to look at Jason, then immediately regretted it. She continued, after bringing her gaze back to the staircase. "I mean, you have a bright future for the taking, something successful that someone else would kill for and all you have to do is get good grades. The rest is done."

"But," Jason started.

"I'm not done," Piper said, cutting him off. "Reyna, however, has to prove everyone wrong. Her sister, Hylla, is her parents' favorite; even with her amazing grades, leadership in the school, and countless achievements, it's not enough for her to think that she'll ever amount to Hylla. Then she looks at you," Piper looked at Jason, holding his gaze. "You have to prove nothing and yet your still one-upping her. How do you think she feels?"

"Dang," Jason said. "And how do you know all this?"

She rolled her eyes, though her mouth was breaking into a mischievous smile, "You just gotta pay attention. Girls are a lot more open than you think."

"So," he said, throwing a pillow at her. "What about this new guy? Mysterious, dreamy, I bet he's blonde, too."

Piper looked at him shocked.

"Come on, I would be the worst best friend if I didn't see the guy you were dancing with that night. You gotta give me some credit," Jason said smiling proudly.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't think anyone saw me, you all were kind of pre-occupied with your partners."

Jason's expression softened, "Pipes, come on, you know we all love you."

"Even though I'm still the new one in your little group?" Piper said, smiling.

"More like you're the one who brought us all together," Jason changed to his position so he was staring at Piper's bedroom ceiling, again. "Plus, I might have read some of your texts," he grinned wider. "So, he likes cheddar popcorn, huh?"

A thud sounded, a pillow landing on his face. He looked up and smiled widely, throwing it at Piper. Let's just be grateful that they were pillows and not something else, otherwise, the two would have all of their bones broken.

* * *

"It's go time, team!" Leo said as the group, him, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Calypso, and Reyna were all locking arms. "We all have what we need?"

"Check!" Piper said, her game face on.

"Then let's roll out!" Leo screamed, the group all walked into the movie theater.

Percy was found with two big bowls of popcorn and a blue slushie that he was drinking. "Hey, how come I wasn't invited to the carpool?" he tried his best to sound offended but failed. He broke out into a grin. He looked at Annabeth who was already passing the bowl of popcorn to Piper, so a hand was free for him to hold her hand. "Ready?" he asked.

She grinned, "Ready." Percy didn't know it yet, but this would be something he would never forget.

The group all filed into seats in one row. They were early enough to snatch some, so they were all together.

The commercials before the movie started to play and Annabeth said, "I've gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Percy nodded his head and saw all the girls in the group leave for the bathroom, what he didn't notice was Piper holding a bag.

* * *

"GO! GO! GO!" Piper screamed, all the girls sprinting to the bathroom.

They hurriedly did what they were supposed to and Piper left the duffle bag she was holding in the place the group agreed with. Afterward, the girls sprinted back to the theater. Piper ran past a guy holding a bucket of popcorn, she didn't notice it, but it was Luke.

"Hey, Piper!" he said, but was too late. She didn't hear him because the girls and she were already filing into the theater.

* * *

"Hey," Annabeth smiling at Percy.

"Hey," he said taking a good look at her.

He took a double take and noticed that she was now wearing a blue skater dress, instead of the orange top and cut-off jean shorts that she was wearing a second before. He looked at the others, the guys now gone, but the girls were there and they were all wearing different clothes as well: Piper was now wearing a purple shirt with ripped jeans, Calypso wearing a white low-cut, flowy shirt with shorts, and Reyna wearing a white lace crop top with high waisted jeans.

"Hey," Percy whispered to Annabeth over the popcorn that was in between them. "Weren't you..."

Annabeth cut him off saying, "Sorry, Perce, I've got to go to the bathroom again. I drank a lot of water before we got here, big mistake."

Before Percy could say anything her and the girls were walking out of the aisle, leaving the newly arrived guys.

Percy stared at the guys now, they were also wearing something different. Jason was wearing a dark blue shirt and light-wash jeans now, even though he was wearing his basketball team shirt from school and dark wash jeans. Leo was now wearing a white t-shirt with a black vest and skinny jeans with different shoes, instead of the orange shirt and regular jeans he was wearing from before.

Percy tried to get Leo's, who was closest to him, attention, but Leo just shushed him and said, "Dude, the movie's about to start."

* * *

"Come on, Calypso! Hurry up!" Annabeth shouted in the bathroom.

Piper was outside getting another bucket of popcorn since Leo stole hers. She turned around and suddenly saw Luke standing behind her. "Um, hey, Luke," she said awkwardly.

"Piper," he said acknowledging her.

She looked over his shoulder and spotted Annabeth pulling Calypso out of the bathroom and Reyna putting the duffle back into place. Panic started to run through Piper's veins. "Yeah, listen I gotta go."

"Weren't you wearing a purple shirt and ripped jeans a few seconds ago?" he asked.

Piper looked down at the teal dress and gladiator sandals that she now had on. She smiled a smile that made Luke weak in the knees, "I'll explain later. See ya!" She ran over to Annabeth, Calypso, and Reyna, who were impatiently waiting.

"Sorry, guys," Piper apologized.

Annabeth looked at Piper curiously, "Why were you talking to Luke?"

"You know him?" Piper asked, before Leo bursted out of the theater door.

"What are you guys doing! Percy's all alone! GO! GO! GO!" Leo said before Jason opened the door, holding it open for the now sprinting girls.

Jason walked out of the doorway, spotting Luke. He nodded his head, before following Leo into the bathroom.

* * *

Annabeth sat back into her seat next to Percy, wearing her new attire. "Hey," she said smiling at him and taking a sip of his slushie.

"NO, you do not deserve this!" Percy said over-protectively taking the slushie away. "WHY ARE YOU WEARING _THAT_ , NOW!" he whisper-screamed.

"You mean, you don't like it?" Annabeth said, pretending to be hurt. She stared down at her sea-green crop top and ripped, high-waisted shorts. "I thought this shirt went well with your eyes," She said, fake, flirtatiously.

"No, I mean, why are you wearing something," he was cut off by Annabeth, who kissed him. He immediately answered back and they started to kiss in-sync.

Annabeth broke away, grinning, "Gotta go!" She raced away with the girls, leaving Percy with the newly dressed guys.

He groaned and put his head down, drinking his slushie madly.

* * *

"That was great, Annabeth! Cutting him off with a kiss, genius! I'm a proud mother," Piper said. She was looking at herself in the mirror, braiding random strands of hair. Piper was always the first one out.

Piper was now wearing Reyna's white lace top, some ripped shorts that Annabeth was wearing at the beginning, and black high-top converse. Calypso walked out, wearing Annabeth's blue skater dress with a ripped jean jacket on top and Piper's black gladiator sandals. The girls decided to just pair each other's clothes differently, so it would take up less space. Annabeth walked out of the big stall they were all using, fixing her earrings. She was wearing Calypso's flowy, white shirt and Piper's ripped jeans with her own white sandals.

Reyna popped back into the bathroom, she was usually the second one done, after she put the bag back into its place. She was now wearing Annabeth's orange crop top, Piper's ripped jeans, and her own set of white converse.

"What can I say, I'm a girl of many talents," Annabeth answered.

Piper looked at her phone, "It's been two minutes, the guys will kill us! Let's go!"

* * *

The girls went back to their seats, the guys getting up simultaneously.

"Okay, why do you all keep changing! I need answers, Annabeth. Now," Percy demanded.

"Shhh," Annabeth whispered. "Plus, I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Wise Girl, you know plenty, especially the reason why you all keep changing!"

"CHANGING IS A PART OF LIFE, PERSUES. NOW KEEP IT DOWN! I AM TRYING TO WATCH THE MOVIE" Piper whispered furiously.

The guys filed in, Jason was now wearing a purple shirt with dark wash jeans and black vans, whereas Leo was now wearing a button-up V-neck cream shirt and gray skinny jeans.

"UGHHH!" Percy said, making the whole theater shush him. He grabbed a handful of overly buttered popcorn and chomped on it.

Annabeth kissed him, "Calm down, everything is going to be okay. You're just a little bit crazy."

She said this before she left with the girls for what felt like the 100th time. They changed, and changed, and changed. So did the guys. Percy was both mad because he seemed to be the only person who saw this, but he was also impressed that the group had so many outfit combinations. The guys were probably the best, just because it's hard to find jeans in all the colors of the rainbow and Leo had found them all. Like, all of them.

* * *

"So, am I crazy?" Percy asked as the group walked out of the theater. Annabeth was on the end, then Percy, Piper, Jason, Reyna, Calypso, then Leo on the end.

"Yes," Annabeth said, kissing his cheek. She and the rest of the group changed back into their original outfits. "Crazy for me."

Percy chuckled, "That's for sure." He had his arm wrapped around her waist and his other arm around Piper's neck.

"That was smooth, Chase," Piper said, grinning.

"Thank you, McLean," she said looking at Piper, grinning.

Piper hip-bumped Jason and the group walked into the sunset. More like the diner that was next to the theater, but the sunset part sounds a lot better.

* * *

 _A/N: All of my heart and prayers goes out to Christina Grimmie and the relatives and friends of the people who were affected in Orlando. I was literally in Orlando when both of the things in Orlando, I was at a Selena Gomez concert when Christina was horrifically shot, and I was in a hotel when the horrible thing happened in downtown Orlando. If you guys didn't know, Christina Grimmie was runner-up when she was on the voice and was on tour with Before You Exit, after the concert she was having a meet-and-greet and was shot by a crazy person. Then, the worst massacre in US history (I think) happened in a gay club, called Pulse, in downtown Orlando. It literally sickens me and disgusts me that there are people in this world that are capable of doing this. I'm praying for all these innocent souls and that American government gets their act together. And all of the crazy people. Hopefully I got all of these facts right, if I didn't just let me know._

 _I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, so review!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	19. Surprising News

_A/N: thanks to everyone who have reviewed! I usually PM everyone that reviews, but there are always guests that review and I wanted to thank Anime unicorn for giving such a nice review! It just made me smile so much :) Kay, onto the story!_

 _disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker_

* * *

Piper yawned as she walked into the kitchen. She took an apple from the fruit basket that always seemed to be filled up.

"Good morning, Piper," a voice sounded behind her.

She turned around, surprised, "Dad? I thought you weren't going to be back until spring break?!" She practically leaped towards where he was sitting and reading the newspaper. Piper hugged him tightly, she could feel him chuckle against her shoulder.

Piper usually never got to see her dad so early in the new year, he was always off filming, or doing press, or photo shoots, or, just recently, visiting her mom.

She spent Christmas with Jason's family and Reyna, which was a blast, but she felt out of place. Jason's dad was mostly talking to Reyna and her future, with Jason a part of the conversation. Piper thanked the stars that Thalia, and occasionally Annabeth, were there to make her feel like she wasn't left out.

New Year's Eve was a different story, the group had held a small party to bring in the new year and Piper had invited Frank, Hazel, and Luke to the party as well.

 _A few weeks ago..._

Piper was shocked to find out that Annabeth knew who Luke was, they were old neighbors. Annabeth had pulled Piper aside to warn her about him. She told Piper about his long history of taking advantage of girls, but Piper was convinced that he wasn't like that. She assured Annabeth that if she felt anything at all, Annabeth was the first person to know about it. Annabeth made her promise.

Luke wasn't able to go to the party, but Frank and Hazel were able to join and Piper's group of friends immediately clicked with the two, especially Percy. Percy joked around with Frank and made him feel welcome; he acted like he was Hazel's big brother. Piper could tell that Annabeth loved that her newly acquired boyfriend was still a good guy.

When it came around till the last ten minutes until New Year's, all of the couple's were together, snuggled up and all of that cheezy-ness. Piper had been all alone until Luke showed up three minutes before. He sat next to Piper on the couch, she didn't notice it but Jason did, he stared at her the whole time. He watched her as she grinned watching the countdown begin and as it reached five seconds, he tapped her on the shoulder she turned looked at him. When it reached one, he went in for a kiss. She fell into it at first but then realized what had happened. She suddenly pushed him away.

"Piper?" he said surprised.

"Sorry, but what do you think you were doing?" Piper exclaimed. She looked around and saw that everyone was watching. She walked out of the room, calmly.

Luke was about to pursue her, but someone reached out a hand to his chest, stopping him. He looked next to him and saw Jason holding him back. "I think you've done enough," he said, overprotectively.

Luke nodded, grimly, and watched Jason walk to where Piper had gone.

Jason had found Piper sitting down, criss-cross applesauce, in a corner. Not a tear to be seen, she just sat there, looking completely confused. "Hey," he opened and sat down next to her against the wall. "What happened just a second ago?" he looked at her, concerned.

"I don't know," she said monotonously. "It just didn't feel right." A million things were going through Piper's head right now, but the only words that she could think up were those. Those were the only ones she could speak without regretting.

"How? I thought you liked the guy," Jason said curiously.

"I do, but," she looked at him with the most emotionless expression she had ever given him. "Do you think I would be the type of girl to fall that easily?" She remembered the words that Annabeth had said to her just an hour ago, the promise she made her.

Jason chuckled, "Definitely not."

"Do you think Luke thinks that?" she turned her gaze away from Jason. She was feeling nauseous, she didn't know how to think or feel right now. She didn't know how to act right now. This wasn't her and Jason could feel it as well.

"I don't know, to be honest, Thalia's best friends with him," he looked at her as she looked shocked at him. "And from what she says, he seems really into you. If this even helps you at all."

Piper fake laughed, "No, it really doesn't."

Jason chuckled artificially as well.

Leo walked up to the two, sitting against the wall. "Room for one more amigo? I can even sit on Jason's lap if ya want," he said playfully and winked at Jason.

"Sure, sit right here," pointed to the spot next to her, he obliged and sat down making a thump.

"So, how is my wonderful chica doing?" he tried to put as much playfulness in his voice, but he couldn't. Piper was grateful for the effort, though.

"Ugh, she's confused," Piper said, putting her head on Leo's shoulder.

"What are you going to do?" Leo asked gently.

Piper shrugged her shoulders and looked at Jason. His eyebrows were furrowed; he was thinking. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"You know, we can just kick him out, right?" Jason offered.

"No. I don't want him to be excluded because of me," Piper answered automatically.

Leo added in, "But he's only here because of you. We were never friends with him."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "And to be fair, Thalia and him haven't even talked in weeks. And when they did talk he only asked advice for you, not to hang out with her. This is totally your call, Pipes."

She took her head off of Leo's shoulder and buried her face in her hands. ' _Why does everything have to be so hard?'_ she thought to herself. _'But, it doesn't have to be hard. I'm just making it hard, I can easily just walk away from the situation. I can easily tell the others to make him leave. But that's not the Piper McLean way to do things. No,'_ she thought. If Piper was going to do this she had to do it _her_ way.

"You guys don't have to do anything," Piper said.

She got up and walked back to where the rest of the group was. Jason and Leo followed her.

When she walked in, all eyes were on her, including Luke's. He got up and looked nervously at her, but her gaze was fiery. Her gaze radiated confidence.

"Luke," she started. She crossed her arms and continued, "I appreciate that you came over to spend New Year's with us, but that gave you no right to kiss me. I may have liked you," Luke looked hopeful at her, but his hopefulness was slowly crushed by Piper's next words. "But the keywords are _may_ and _liked_. As in past tense. You're cool, but I'm not going to start the new year off with stooping so low and giving in to any guy that goes out of nowhere and just tries to kiss me. I'm not like that, and you trying to kiss me proves the fact that you don't know me. So, you can all do us a favor and leave."

Luke looked at her surprised.

Piper was surprised as well, she may have seemed like a bitch, the situation may have seemed like what she said was uncalled for, but she didn't care. All of these words that Piper had said were for her and her alone. She needed to show herself who she was and remind herself why she didn't need to worry that her friends weren't going to judge her. These people weren't like her old friends. These people were her family.

Luke walked away.

* * *

"Good morning!" Jason moved his phone away, from the loud voice on the phone.

"Ugh, did you really have to wake me up? It's SATURDAY!" Jason screamed into his phone.

He heard Annabeth laugh on the other end, "Yes, but it is also the time where we have breakfast at iHOP, or did you forget?"

"Shoot," Jason said, immediately throwing his sheets up and getting up, running towards his closet.

"So you forgot," Annabeth said, he could hear her grinning. "Don't mind me, I'll just eat my pancakes alone."

Jason struggled to put on his jeans, "Shut up, you know I'm struggling to put on clothes right now. Anyone else there?"

"Nope, Percy's with his mom, Reyna's hanging with Leo and Calypso, and Piper's dad unexpectedly showed up so she's gonna spend the day with him," Annabeth answered.

"Huh, I thought Piper's dad wasn't coming back until Spring Break," Jason said as he quickly put a shirt on.

"She did too, they're gonna go to a movie. She invited us if we wanted to go," Annabeth said, chomping on some pancakes.

"YOU ARE NOT EATING PANCAKES WITHOUT ME ARE YOU?!" Jason said angrily, he ran down the steps and grabbed his car keys from the kitchen island. "BYE THALIA! BYE DAD!" he screamed and ran to his car.

"Oh yes I am, it's the least I get for sitting all alone here, on the phone."

Jason started his engine and pulled out of the driveway, "I'm going, I'm going."

"Great!" Annabeth said happily over the phone and hung up.

•••

Jason walked through the door and immediately spotted Annabeth sitting happily by herself and eating a bowl of fruit. He walked over to her and smiled at her as he sat down.

"Took you long enough," she said, her mouth full of fruit. "I thought your car could go faster."

Jason rolled his eyes as he grabbed a fork and ate some of the pancakes that Annabeth had ordered him. "It _could_ go faster, but I wanted to be safe, Annie."

She pointed her fork at him as she put a cantaloupe in her mouth, "You know I don't like that nickname."

"And that is why I use it," he took another bite of his pancakes.

A waitress walked up, her name tag read 'Khione.' She smiled at Jason flirtatiously, Annabeth spotted it, but Jason had no idea.

He was reading all of the items on the menu, even though he had been to iHOP countless times. "Um, I'll get a cup of orange juice, please. And some cinnamon rolls, too. Thanks."

She nodded and left. A few minutes later she came back with a large cup of orange juice and a steaming hot plate of cinnamon rolls. She placed them on the table and stood at the table a minute too long.

"Anything else?" Khione said, hoping that he would notice her.

"Nope, that's it. Thank you," Jason replied politely. He went back to eating his pancakes.

Khione rolled her eyes, "Well if you don't want anything else, then here," she slid a piece of paper towards him. "Just in case you do." She winked at Jason, who was suddenly looking at her mischievously.

"Um, thanks, I guess. But I don't think I ordered a piece of paper. Is that on the menu, Annabeth?"

Annabeth chuckled, "I don't think so, Grace. Hon, would you be a dear and take this back to the chef telling him we didn't order this?"

Jason continued, "Yeah, we appreciate it, but we aren't really in the paper-eating mood. Thanks, though."

Khione turned around haughtily and strutted away from the table.

Jason laughed and opened the piece of paper to see a phone number written on it. He turned around to spy Khione still looking at him. Just to get under her skin, he winked at her, causing Annabeth to laugh.

"Alright, mister 'I get all dem ladies' numbers' you should start eating your cinnamon rolls before someone else does," Annabeth said, still laughing.

"And who would dare eat my cinnamon rolls?"

"Oh, me of course," she said. "See, I'm eating one right now," she grabbed a cinnamon roll and started to take a bite.

"NOO!" Jason quickly snatched it out of her hand and shoved it down his own mouth. "It's really good," he said with his mouth full and barely audible.

"That's wonderful, Jason." Annabeth looked at him. "Now... GIVE MY THE CINNAMON ROLL."

* * *

"So," Piper said towards her dad. She sat down next to her dad at the head of the dining table. "What are you doing here so early? You know I still have school going on, right?" Piper started talking a mile a minute asking her dad questions, then answering them herself. She was excited to have her dad in the flesh for more than 10 seconds.

Her dad chuckled and looked at her softly, "Yes, of course, your in school. I just wanted to let you know what has happened with your mom."

Piper's smile stopped. It turned into a straight line. "What happened?"

It broke Piper's dad's heart to hear all of the excitement leave her voice. "There were no long-term physical injuries."

She sighed of relief.

"But, there was long-term brain damage that has become evident."

"Wow, you sound just like a doctor," Piper chuckled with no evidence of happiness in her voice or on her face. "What type of damage?"

Her dad sighed, his hands messing with his hair, "It's too soon to tell, but the one word that your mom said after she woke up was 'Piper.'"

Piper looked up, she had been staring at the table for the longest time. "What does that mean?"

"I, well the doctors agree with me too, think that you should come over to Paris, see your mom."

"By myself?"

"No," Piper's dad looked at her. "I would never let you go by yourself."

"Am I going with Mellie?" Piper crossed her arms.

"Mell? No, she's with her husband, they're on a honeymoon. I meant that _I_ would go with you," her dad looked up at her grinning.

Piper looked at him surprised, "Are you serious?!"

"Under these circumstances, I think I need to," her dad was grinning.

Piper grinned widely, her whole family was going to be together again. Her own family. Not Jason's, not Leo's, not even Annabeth's or Percy's or Reyna's. It would be Piper's family. The one that she was born into. The one that she had to love no matter what happened.

* * *

"So," Jason's dad spoke to him. "What did you want to talk about?"

Jason took a deep breath. The two were walking outside, bundled up in clothes in an awkward silence. Jason looked around, looking at all of the families near him. "I just wanted to know how it was going for your campaign. If you were making progress and all."

His father looked sideways at him, shocked, "I'm glad you've had a sudden interest in these things. You always seemed like you could care less." He patted Jason on the back.

"I was just interested, we were talking about pollution in one of my classes today, so I wanted to ask you about it."

"Well, it's going well. I'm having a meeting tomorrow with the mayor if you wanted you could join me."

Jason's expression turned into an excited one, "Yeah, that would be really cool. Thanks, dad."

His dad laughed jovially, "Of course, my son is finally taking an interest in what I do."

Jason smiled, a forced one this time. He didn't know why, but the last part of what his dad said made him feel weird. Jason looked around at the families more closely. He noticed a little boy who was holding his dad's hand as he roller skated in the snow. He saw a little girl whose dad's arm was wrapped tightly around her. The boy who was sleeping in his dad's armed as his dad carried him. A girl who was crying because her snowman fell apart; her dad grabbed her hand lovingly and helped her build it up again.

Jason's eyes started to water the tiniest bit. Even though he knew that his dad had always been there, his dad had never always _been_ there.

•••

Jason had been sunken in his couch, rewatching The Flash for the 100th time. His phone rang suddenly, which jolted him from his clouded mind.

"Hey," a very happy sounding Piper voiced. "I got something that I need to tell you.

"What's up?" Jason sat up, he heard a weird tone in her voice.

"Well, I'm sure Annabeth told you my dad came home this morning."

"Yeah, that's great. How is he?"

"He's good," she paused. "But he asked me something as well."

Jason was confused, "What did he ask?"

"He asked if he wanted me to go to Paris with him to see my mom," she paused again.

Jason stayed silent.

"And I said yes. The doctors think that if I was there my mom might feel better. Her brain had gotten really damaged in the car crash."

"Yeah, of course. When are you leaving?"

"I don't know yet, you're the first person I told. Do you think I should go?"

"Piper, of course, I do."

"But what if it gets bad? What if I can't come back?" Piper was close to tears, Jason could hear it.

"It's a risk you'll have to take. Pipes, it's your _mom_."

She took a shaky breath, "You're right. Wanna come over?"

"Sure, if it'll help you. Of course, I will."

* * *

 _A/N: Hope ya enjoyed the chapter! I hat_ e _to say it, but we're on the last leg of this story :( I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far and I'll see ya next week :D_

 _T_ _ell me if ya liked the story by reviewing! Also, what do you guys wanna see before this story ends?_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	20. Minor Adjustments

_disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

[ _thanks for **WT4L** for reviewing! Got motivated to write a ton of this chap because of you!_]

* * *

"So, thoughts on this?" Piper held up a top to a very bored Annabeth. "Is it Paris-y enough?"

Annabeth had been lying on the bed helping Piper out with packing. She shrugged her shoulders as she opened up her phone to a random app, "I have no idea about fashion. Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a mom that designed clothes for a living." Annabeth joked and gave Piper a pointed look.

Piper rolled her eyes and rolled the cream crochet top she had held up to the blonde a second ago and chucked it at her. Since Piper had told Annabeth about her parents she received constant jokes about having to be 'in' with the trends.

"I guess you're not bringing it then?" Annabeth threw the shirt down to the floor as she scrolled down her twitter timeline. "Are you excited?"

Piper looked up from the pants she had been rolling up to put into her suitcase and grinned, "Yeah. I really am." She paused, "But is it wrong that I'm scared?"

Annabeth's gaze softened. "Piper, of course not. You're going to see your mom who got into a _car crash_. You have every right to be scared."

"What if something bad happens?"

"Then we'll all be here to pick up the pieces."

Since Piper had told her friends, they had been nothing but supportive. She would be gone for two weeks, so they all decided to make a schedule with at least one of them face timing her every day she would be gone. Piper didn't know what would've happened if she hadn't walked through those Goode doors and picked Leo as her victim of helping her. She sure as heck wouldn't be going to Paris and feeling bad leaving her friends behind.

Before, it was easy to leave her old friends. Whenever she was about to leave, they had already found out about her dad and cared more about him than they ever did her, even when they didn't know about him. She would be constantly bombarded with, "Can he sign this?" or, "Can he shout me out on this?" Piper got tired of them quickly after she made the mistake of telling them.

Her eyes drifted towards a purse that had been given to her by one of her old friends, Katie. Katie had been the only one who at least tried to ignore the fact her dad was Tristan McLean and was actually sad that Piper was leaving to go to New York. Before Piper had left, she had given her a small, simple black purse with silver detailing. Inside was a photo booth picture the two had taken on one of their mall adventures. Piper wondered if it was still in there.

"So," Annabeth had brought Piper out of her never-ending thoughts. "You all set for tomorrow?"

Piper inhaled deeply, "Ready as I'll ever be. I still can't believe I'm leaving you guys for two weeks starting tomorrow."

Annabeth softly smiled at her, then pulled Piper onto the bed so she could hug her. "Don't worry, you still won't be able to forget our beautiful faces." She reached on the ground and pulled something up, Piper broke away from the hug. "Here, we all pitched in."

Piper took the gift and looked like a child on Christmas morning at Annabeth. She opened it and teared up, it was a phone case, but not just any normal case. It was a group photo from the winter dance they had attended, in what seemed like, so long ago. On the inside, everyone had written a little saying in their favorite colors. No one had ever done something so thoughtful for her

Annabeth grinned at her and grabbed her phone to hold it out to the now crying Piper. "I didn't think that you would cry. You do know it's only two weeks, right?"

"Yeah," she wiped her eyes and took her old phone case off, replacing it with the new one she had received. "But a lot can happen in two weeks."

"Here," Annabeth held her pinky out. "Let's promise that nothing big will happen on either of our ends for the next two weeks. We'll save it all for when you come back, alright?"

Piper gratefully took hold of the blonde's held out pinky. "Deal."

"Alright, now let's go and pig out at the Cheesecake Factory. I bet everyone's waiting for us," Annabeth said, getting her stuff together.

"Let's get cheesin' then," Piper said cheekily.

"Ugh, why am I friends with you?"

"Cause you loooove me."

"Mhm, sure."

•••

Piper looked up from the book she was reading; she had heard her door creak just seconds ago. Her dad appeared in the doorway, a soft smile on his lips. For once in his life, it seemed, to Piper at least, that he was relaxed.

She put the book down and motioned for him to come in. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing." He sat next to her on her bed and brushed her hair back, the way he used to do all the time when she was little. "You just seem really happy right now. And I'm," he sighed. "I'm just really happy to finally see you enjoy yourself for once."

"What do you mean?" Piper cocked her head to the side, confused.

He laughed gently, "You just always just seem to exist. You never really learned to love your life as much as you do now. Now I see you going out with your friends and come back happy? I get to see you bring home your friends and talk with them endlessly? I used to never see that. And, I'm, I'm so happy that you get to do these things."

Piper looked at the black purse Katie had given her so long ago, laying their aimlessly on the floor. She nodded, then looked up at her dad. "Yeah, I'm really happy right now, dad."

She grinned at him and he grinned back.

•••

Piper groaned as she picked up her ringing phone. "Hello?" she said, sleep evident in the way she spoke.

The other person chuckled through the phone, "I see you're ready for your flight today?"

"Very funny, Jason." She rolled her eyes, "And for your information, my flight isn't until 3 pm, so you all haven't seen the last of me."

"Pipes," amusement was laced into his voice. "Look at the time."

She brought her phone to her eyes and saw the time read 12:00 pm. "Shoot."

"Go and get ready, we'll see ya in a few."

"Alright, bye."

Piper dressed quickly, pulling random left-over clothes that she hadn't packed. She really should have laid out her clothes the night before, oh well. She settled on a Goode gray sweatshirt and black workout leggings. She grabbed her backpack that was near her bed and went downstairs to find her dad waiting in the foyer, her luggage and his next to him.

He looked up from his phone, "Piper. Hey."

"Hi," she smiled at him.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Okay then," he picked up both of their suitcases and went to the car that was waiting for them.

Piper followed him, but once she had reached the bottom of the steps to her house she realized she forgot something.

She told her dad that she left something in her room. He nodded and went inside the car to wait for her. Piper raced up the steps. She bolted into her room and grabbed something from one of the many piles on her floor. She took the black purse and went back down the steps in her house. Before she went outside, though, she reached in and pulled out the picture from the photo booth and placed it in between her phone and phone case. Piper was ready.

* * *

"So, did you face time Piper last night?" Leo asked, leaning against a locker.

Jason sighed and shut his locker, "Yeah. It's getting really hard to read her right now, though."

"Yeah," Leo nodded his head and started to walk with Jason. "She's going through some deep stuff right now."

"Tell me about it," the two entered the classroom. "So, are you ready for the test today?" Jason set his backpack onto his desk.

Leo looked alarmed at him, then said calmly, "What do you mean by test?" He smoothed out his backpack, a thing he did to stop himself from panicking in a situation.

Jason rolled his eyes, "The test that Mr. Brunner has been talking about for the past three weeks. The test that's really important." He ppointed towards the board, where it read _Test Today_.

"Mhm," Leo said oh-so-calmly. "Well, I think I am coming down with something." He fake coughed, "If you will excuse me, I am going to go to the nurse." He slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Jason laughed as he saw his best friend walk up to Mr. Brunner acting sick and being sent to the nurse's office. That lasted for about 5 minutes, then Leo Valdez came back, looking disheartened.

"The nurse said I would be okay, but I COULD DIE. THIS IS AN INJUSTICE. WHAT GIVES HER THE RIGHT TO TELL WHEN A CHILD IS NOT SICK?!"

"When that said child is faking it," Jason pointed out.

Leo made a mocking face at him.

"I see you're back in time for this test, Mr. Valdez," Mr. Brunner said, a pile of sheets in his hand.

"Yes, sir," Leo said joylessly.

"Well, I hope you all have studied and try your best on this," he handed out all of the tests.

Leo looked at Jason, "Do a brother a favor."

"What now?" Jason rolled his eyes.

Leo looked at him excitedly. Let's just say that Leo got to get out of class because his 'mom' was having an emergency.

•••

"Do you miss her?" Percy asked, shooting a hoop.

Jason and Percy had been in the gym shooting hoops for free period. Jason had been winning, 34-27, but Percy had been catching up quickly. Ever since he and Annabeth had gotten back together, he had been in a good mood every second of the day.

"Who? Reyna? She's just been on a trip to Puerto Rico for a few days. She'll be back tomorrow," Jason said. He missed the next shot he took.

Percy gave him a 'come on' look and shot another ball, making it. "You know that's not who I'm talking about, right?"

"Piper?" Jason let go of the ball, landing in the hoop seconds later.

"Bingo," Percy said. "But do you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's not like we still don't talk. Aren't I going to face time her with you tonight?"

"Yeah, but you've been acting especially weird ever since she left." Percy walked over to the bleachers and gulped down his bright blue Gatorade. He lifted his practice jersey to wipe the sweat off of his face.

"I dunno, it's just weird not having her around."

"And it's not weird to have Reyna not around?"

"What are you asking?" Jason asked defensively.

Percy backed away, his drink in hand, "Just trying to make a point, dude."

Jason shot three more basketballs, not making any of them. He frustratedly picked another one up, ready to shoot, but Percy grabbed it from him before he could throw it.

"Steady, dude, steady. What's up with you?"

Jason messed with his hair in a confused manner, "I don't even know."

Percy drank his Gatorade again, then said quietly, "You know, we don't have to play this game anymore."

"What game?" Jason knew what he was trying to say, but didn't want to believe it.

"The game that's making you date Reyna."

He looked at Percy.

"I see how you look at Reyna, you're not in love, dude. And it bothers me. Because when you look at," Percy's voice drifted off.

"When I look at who?" Jason asked eagerly.

"It doesn't matter, but what I'm trying to say is, that, this game is pointless. I don't even know why we even started this. Sleeping with a ton of girls? Breaking their hearts? Toying with them? Why did we think this was a good idea?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know." But the thing was, Jason knew exactly why. The guys didn't want to let their childhood go. Next year they were seniors, the year after, college freshmen. The only thing they had to hold onto were being the guys that were douches that played with girls' hearts. That was the only thing that they knew that could keep them in high school forever, everything was moving too fast for them. They just wanted it to slow down. What better way to slow it down then acting childish and meaningless?

"Anyways," Percy said. "We can just stop. We can live our high school experience to the fullest!"

"But we are!" Jason said, completely convinced that this was how you lived high school: spending high school as a player and during that not making the best friendships in the world.

"No, we aren't," Percy said, steadily. "In high school, we're meant to have fun. We're meant to be the best possible us, so we can make mistakes and then become and even better version of us. We still have time, Jase! Come on, we can stop right now. We can live wholly. We can love wholly."

Jason shook his head and took the basketball Percy had stolen from him. "Maybe you're ready to stop, but I'm not." He shot the basketball and walked out of the gym so fast that he couldn't see that he had missed that shot as well.

* * *

 _A/N: Shorter chapter than usual, but hopefully you guys enjoyed it!_

 _Leave a review to tell me what you guys think!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**

 _[to anyone reading this: I think you're really great]_


	21. Halfway There

_disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters_

* * *

The girl sat by herself outside of the clichè Paris cafè, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. She never had a knack for coffee, or anything caffeine related, really. Although, she was occasionally okay with tea. She wore a cream crochet top, smiling at her glowing phone. She drank her hot chocolate with one hand, scrolling down her phone with the other.

A waiter approached her, placing down a plate that held a dish called Bruschetta de Flageolets. The girl put her phone face down, getting an extra tip from her black purse for the waiter, who had been nice to her.

"Piper?" a voice called out to the girl, who had just given the tip to the waiter.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" the brunette looked up at the girl who had just oddly sad her name. She was dressed in a blue and navy striped t-shirt dress, her hair pulled up into a ponytail, a good few inches on her black heels, and she wore black cat-eye sunglasses.

The girl chuckled and entered the gateway that separated the outdoor cafe with the outside world. She sat across from the confused girl, who had been pondering calling her dad immediately. Piper didn't know why a random girl would just know her name and felt the inclination to just sit across from her.

Piper calmed down right away, once the stranger had raised her sunglasses up to her brown hair, showing Piper her familiar green eyes.

"Katie?" Piper looked at her puzzled. "What are you doing here in Paris?!"

The girl smiled warmly at her, "I could ask you the same thing." The seemingly native girl waved over a waiter and spoke in perfect french for her regular order. "I transferred over here for school. My mom came with me, she runs that flower shop across the street," she switched to English and she pointed, showing Piper the store.

"Wow, I didn't know you knew perfect french. Your mom's flower shop looks beautiful," Piper gushed, her gaze focused on it.

Katie shrugged her shoulders, "You get used to the french language once you live here for a few months, plus I had a good friend who taught me a few things." She winked at Piper, "And what can I say? My mom's known for her green thumb."

Piper nodded, pulling her gaze away from the mesmerizing shop. It was overflowing with what seemed like thousands of colors and types of flowers. Many people were milling around it, taking in the beauty that was Katie's mom's flower shop.

"So," Katie said once the waiter had brought her order in. "Wait are you doing in lovely Paris during the school year?"

"Oh," Piper took her fork and played around with the tomatoes, placed strategically on her plate. "My, mom, um, is in the hospital."

Katie stopped cutting her meat with her knife and fork, "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry, Piper. That must suck."

Piper chuckled, "Yeah, it really does. Well, I'm here for one more week with her, then it's back to NY. My dad's with the doctors right now. I just kind of wanted to get out of the stuffy room, get my mind off of it, you know?"

The other girl nodded, "Totally."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, their cutlery making the occasional jingle.

"So," Piper broke the silence. "What gave me away to you?"

"Your aura," Katie joked. "The purse," she smiled widely at Piper. "I can't believe you kept it all this time."

Piper smiled a genuine smile back, "How could I not? Seriously, thank you for it."

"Anytime," Katie paused. "Are those your new friends?" she motioned towards Piper's phone case.

Piper grinned, looking down at her friends that were waiting for her back in New York. "Yeah, they are."

Katie looked at her, her expression sad. "They seem really great."

"Yeah," Piper couldn't help but smile even more, if that was physically possible. "They really are."

The other girl smiled widely, then a sly grin replaced it. "Is that your boyfriend?"

"What? Who, the latino guy?" Piper looked down at her photo. It had been Percy, Annabeth, Calypso, Leo, Piper, Jason, and Reyna in that order for the picture.

Katie looked at her confused and laughed, "Gosh no, the _blonde_."

"Jason? Are you being serious?" Piper laughed confusedly.

The brunette looked at her seriously. "Yes! Are you guys a thing or what?"

"Or what. Can you not see the girl next to him?!"

"YES, you! You know, you can stop lying to me now," Katie crossed her her arms against her chest.

"No," Piper said seriously, "He's actually dating the other girl next to him."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I even helped him get her."

"Hm," Katie continued to eat her meal.

"What made you think that we were a thing?"

She stopped, mid bite then looked up at Piper, a glint in her green eyes. "The way he looked at you."

* * *

"Welcome back!" Jason gave a bear hug to Reyna. "How was your trip?"

"Lonely. My mom and sister kept on going off without me, which meant I had to take care of my cousins."

Jason slung his arm around her, "Hey, it couldn't have all been that bad."

"Oh, it was," the two walked out of the airport, the rest of the group outside, waiting for her.

Annabeth and Calypso ran up and took her away from Jason. They hugged and started complaining at how miserable they both were without Piper and her.

"Yeah," Percy said, while he swung his arms around Leo and the now abandoned Jason. "But they got the company of the most awesomest guys in the world. I honestly don't know how Reyna could survive without us."

"Mhm," Annabeth said unimpressed.

Percy shrugged and they all filed into Annabeth's mini-van, which had been the only vehicle of the group's that could fit all of them. Percy and Jason were in the front, leaving Leo with the girls who were catching up, already cracking jokes about the guys.

"Guys!" Leo complained. "Do I _have_ to be the one that hears all of their insults of us? They're insulting my new haircut! OH DON'T YOU DARE OFFEND FREDDY THE SUSPENDERS! HE IS MY CHILD! AND WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT CHARLES THE JACKET?! CALYPSO YOU WERE _WEARING_ CHARLES THE OTHER NIGHT! STOP INSULTING BUFORD THE TABLE I MADE HIM WITH MY BARE HANDS. CALYPSO STOP MOCKING ME." Leo leaned in the middle of Jason's and Percy's seats, "Guys I am being TORTURED! Can I switch with you, Percy?"

"No," Jason and Percy said in unison.

"The things I do for you two to have your alone time. Dibs on Jasey-Wasey when we get back!" Leo said, ruffling the hair of the two guys, before curling into a ball in his seat to take a nap. The drive was a long one from the airport to Jason's house, where the group had decorated it for Reyna coming back.

Reyna had been in a good mood ever since she was able to talk with the girls. It made Jason smile. It almost made him forget about the conversation he had had with Percy the day before. Almost. He couldn't help but stay up for a few extra hours, questioning whether or not what Percy had said was true, but how could it be? After all, Piper was the one to help Jason get Reyna to go to the dance with him. It just didn't make sense.

Percy noticed Jason as he drove, he worried about his friend. "Hey, you okay?"

Jason took a side glance at him, covering his confused face with a fake smile. "Yeah, it's all good."

"Dude," Percy started. "I'm sorry about, you know, yesterday. But, I couldn't help but remember oh so long ago when you had the exact conversation with me about breaking up with Annabeth. And you know what?" Percy turned around, looking at the girls who had all been filed in the back, talking non-stop. "You were actually right this time." The sea green-eyed boy smiled a genuine smile at his girlfriend before turning around and watching the same road that Jason had been watching.

Jason shrugged and continued to watch the road as he drove, seeming to not want to pay attention to Percy.

"Just, I don't know, hear me out just this once. I've made some stupid mistakes in my life. Don't make the same as I did and just skip to the happy ending. It's a lot better, trust me."

Jason shrugged again.

Percy sighed, "I tried."

•••

Reyna's party had been a success, full of food, jokes, and, most importantly, games.

The group had first played Twister, Leo becoming the victor in the end. The latino boy knew how to worm his way around people and was still able to hold his balance. He owed his victoriousness to Jason, who had taught him how to touch his toes at the young age of 12. The next game they had played was couples' Pictionary. Annabeth, proving to her already very competitive self, that she could still win, even though half the time she would be yelling, punching, or doing both to Percy. Afterward was the intense game of heads up, Jason and Reyna finishing at the top by one more against Annabeth and Percy.

Percy wouldn't be able to hug Annabeth for a solid week because of that loss.

Calypso and Leo had one in the hula hoop contest, they proved to be very great hula hoopers with Leo being able to touch his toes and Calypso able to touch Leo's head. At least that's what Leo said during their acceptance speech. Then it was Monopoly, in which Annabeth and Reyna were extremely competitive during it. What was different, though, was that the guys and girls were split up. Percy, Jason, and Leo proved to be excellent businessmen, beating the other girls who were devastated.

The most important game, though, was the dance contest. Reyna, Annabeth, and Calypso had choreographed a full number from hand movements to kicking in unison, but the real highlight was when Leo started to strip and made Percy join in as well. Jason had gone to the bathroom, but when he came back out he walked into a room of Leo jumping up and down on the sectional, singing Hannah Montana in nothing but underwear and socks. Percy had been on the floor doing the worm and break dancing in the same outfit as well, but he was singing High School Musical.

Jason missed all the fun.

The group had fun, but Jason couldn't help but know that there was a missing piece in the group. Piper.

He quickly forgot about it, though, when he and Reyna went to grab a late-afternoon coffee after the party. The two walked along the snow melted sidewalk, winter proving to almost be officially over.

The couple held hands, making the usual small talk: Reyna talking about what she was planning to do in student government and Jason stressing about college. Of course, Reyna told him he had nothing to worry about, but she had already been planning to go to a summer program at one of the amazing colleges that would most likely accept her. Jason, though, he didn't even know what he wanted to do.

The subject had been changed when Reyna started to talk about Puerto Rico and how much she had loved it there, even though her company was terrible. She had gotten so much inspiration from being there, she surprised herself when she never wanted to leave.

"So what should I do?" Reyna asked as they entered the coffee shop and fell in line.

"You can always go over the summer, spend it there, embrace the heritage and culture it has to offer," Jason said as they got to the front and paid for the two coffees he ordered.

Reyna nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, but, what if I fall out of love with it if I wait too long?"

"Do you want to go now? Before we even finish this year?" Jason didn't sound offended, but truly curious. He didn't know what it felt like to want to do something so much that he couldn't wait.

The two took a seat across from each other in a booth by the window. It looked out to the local park, kids swinging and laughing.

"I really do," Reyna nodded earnestly; she took a gulp of her coffee.

Jason nodded, trying to understand what she was saying. "Have you talked to your mom about this?"

Reyna looked down at her cup of coffee, her fingers moved in a synchronized pattern. "Yeah, she's actually all for it. She thinks it would look great for future jobs and colleges, you know, doing service and stuff like that over there."

"Wait, you mean she's alright with you just leaving before our junior year is over?" Again, Jason didn't seem angry, but he just seemed genuinely confused.

Reyna took another gulp of her coffee, "I know, it's really out of character for her, but at least it's a good out of character than a bad, right? Anyway, I'll be only gone for a month and when I come back you can always help me to catch up."

"Yeah," Jason smiled at her. She seemed really happy, he should be happy for her too. "So, are you going to do it?"

"Well, I mean, I have family over there, so I'll always have a place to stay. I still haven't told Annabeth, Calypso, or Piper yet. Also Leo and Percy."

"So I'm the only one you told?" Jason felt honored.

"Course," Reyna smiled at him. "You're my boyfriend."

Jason had almost completely forgotten that. The two used to always go and grab a coffee casually, even before they were dating. He didn't know why, but it felt weird hearing her say that. Percy's conversation started to come back in his head, but he quickly shook it away, leaning in to kiss Reyna. He didn't know why, but Jason felt the need to prove to himself why he was doing this. He was going to win the game.

* * *

"Hello?" the girl had picked up her phone. She was walking along the many sidewalks of Paris after she had had lunch with one of her old friends.

The voice on the other line sounded panicked, flustered. It made the girl feel obligated to calm the person at the other end. She reminded him to breathe in deeply; in and out, in and out. The voice calmed down on the other end.

The girl walked into one of the sidewalk stores, a flower shop that was blooming with thousands of beautiful flowers. It reminded the girl of New York; the overcrowded sidewalk stores, but it also gave character to Paris. She liked places that didn't sell over-priced souvenirs, they were too touristy for her. Although, she did come from New York City.

She picked up a full daisy, she brought it up to her nose to smell it.

The voice on the other end started to talk again, but now in a calmed down voice. "Piper, it's your mom. You need to come back, quickly."


	22. Something Big

_disclaimer: I don't own any of these charac_ _ters or the song How To_ _Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds._

 _A/N: Guys, Guess what?! It's the one year anniversary of The Heartbreak Games! At the end of the chapter I'll say a little schpiel!_

* * *

"Have you heard from Piper?" Leo asked Annabeth as they walked to homeroom. The two usually never spent time together alone, but they each had respect for the other.

Annabeth shook her head, "Nope. She's been silent since a few days ago. What do you think happened?"

Leo opened the door for the blonde, "I've got no idea. Hopefully nothing bad."

"We can only hope."

* * *

The brunette girl had fallen asleep next to her mom, who was in a hospital room. Her mother had woken up a few minutes ago, stroking her beautiful daughter's hair. She savored the moment.

It had been a long time since Aphrodite had had alone time with her daughter. Almost too long. She forgot how amazing she was.

Piper stirred, but later fell asleep again, her head near her mother's legs. Piper slept they way she always slept, inhaling through her nose and a little puff coming out of her mouth when she exhaled. Aphrodite had almost forgotten that. Why had she almost forgotten that?

Her ex-husband, Tristan McLean, walked into the room; he smiled at the sight. He went over and stroked Piper's hair as well, looking at Aphrodite.

His eyes looked at her in wonder, "This is our child. Can you _believe_ it?"

Aphrodite looked at him in the same wonder, her eyes brimming with tears, "No, I really can't."

Tristan wiped away the tears that were forming, "What's wrong?"

"Tristan," her voice cracked when she said this. "I almost forgot how amazing our daughter is. I almost forgot her eyes that always changed color. I almost forgot the way when she exhales, a little puff comes out of her mouth. I almost forgot how loving and caring she is. How she tries to stay positive, when it's so hard to. I almost forgot my own _daughter_ , Tristan. How could I?"

He cupped his ex-wife's face with both of his hands. Not in a romantic way, but in a caring way, which seemed more important right now. "But the thing is, you _almost_ forgot her. You didn't, don't forget that Aphrodite."

"But what if I do?" she started to cry again. "You don't think I heard what the doctors have said? You don't think I _know_ that my mental state isn't going as well as my physical state?! How can I remember my daughter when I don't even remember my middle name?"

"Because," Tristan wiped away the tears and calmed her. "Piper is your daughter, there's no other special bond like that. You will remember her."

"But what if she won't remember me?"

"Of course she will," he was confused.

"No, what if she'll remember this person that is crazy. This person that went downhill after the car crash, but not this person that loves her so much that she thought her daughter would have a better life without her."

"She will."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'll remind her."

* * *

"Hey," Jason walked over to the girls' lunch table. Reyna, Annabeth, and Calypso were already sitting down, talking about what the best condiments were for french fries.

"No, no, no. How can you say that?! Mustard is, like, the worst condiment to put on french fries, or anything else for that matter."

"What? Do you want me to say KETCHUP?! Do you want me to say that the best condiment on french fries is the disappointment of the tomato family?!" Annabeth practically screamed at Reyna. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME LIVE MY LIFE?"

"I'LL LET YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE AS LONG AS YOU DON'T PUT MUSTARD ON YOUR FRENCH FRIES!"

Calypso slid away her french fries from Reyna's eyesight. Jason looked and chuckled, mustard had been sprayed all over the fries. Their eyes met, Calypso looked alarmed and mouthed, "Don't tell Reyna."

Jason laughed again then nodded his head. He got her covered.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW WE BECAME FRIENDS BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE DIDN'T BECOME FRIENDS OVER YOUR PREFERRED CONDIMENT FOR FRIES," Reyna screamed, shoving a handful of fries into her mouth, ketchup drizzled on top of them.

"WELL MAYBE WE JUST DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER WELL ENOUGH," Annabeth screamed, eating her burger furiously.

"THEN MAYBE IT'S OVER," Reyna said angrily, eating more fries.

"THEN MAYBE IT IS. GOOD BYE REYNA. AND GOOD RIDDANCE," Annabeth walked back over to the lunch line, then stomped back. She was holding mustard packets.

' _Oh may the gods help us_ ,' Jason thought. He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Annabeth tear open the packets, then squirt them onto Reyna's fries.

Reyna gasped. "YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!"

"MAYBE I DID," Annabeth screamed, she squeezed the remaining mustard into her mouth, then shoved a large handful of fries inside her mouth as well. "MMM DELICIOUS. WHY DON'T YOU TRY SOME REYNA?"

Reyna glared at the standing, smug blonde. "How about you try this," she said calmly. Then, Reyna took some extra ketchup packets, then squirted it all over Annabeth's burger and fries. And another extra squirt into Annabeth's water for good measure.

"You. Did. Not. Just. Do. That." Annabeth looked at Reyna, horrified. She pounced, pushing Reyna to the floor, her mustard packet opened.

"No! YOU WILL NEVER GET THAT MUSTARD INTO MY MOUTH!" Reyna struggled under Annabeth's grasp.

"I WILL AND I WILL DO IT WELL," Annabeth said, pushing her to the ground even more.

Jason took a glance at Calypso, who had hurriedly finished her mustard covered fries. She looked at him, confused. He shrugged his shoulder and watched the two girls struggle for power. During the time he and Calypso had a short, silent conversation, Reyna took control, making Annabeth hold the mustard packet towards her own mouth.

"TASTE THE FRICKEN RAINBOW!" Reyna said, then took a ketchup packet and squeezed it into Annabeth's closed mouth. "Open wide, HONEY."

Annabeth wiggled out of Reyna's hold, then started to run back to the lunch line. By that point, no one had been watching the two girls. Everyone acted like it was a normal thing. It was not. Not at all.

The blonde came back, bounding towards her prey. "MAMA MUSTARD'S COMIN' FOR YA!" She opened the five packets with her teeth then brought Reyna back down, who had grabbed more ammunition as well.

"GUESS TOMATO DAY CAME EARLY, HERE, TRY SOME," Reyna ran towards Annabeth as well.

Still, no one noticed this face off. Jason seriously needed people to get their priorities straight. Long story short, the two girls both tasted ketchup and mustard, in what order? No one will ever know. After taking a taste of mustard, Reyna was scarred for life; after taking a taste of ketchup, Annabeth was pleasantly surprised. Calypso stayed silent during the whole thing, ashamed that she enjoyed mustard covered fries and Jason never told a soul about her little obsession. It was just a normal day at Goode.

* * *

"So what are you saying?"

"Piper, you're mom, she, she isn't doing so well," her dad said this as gently as possible. If that was even possible.

"What's wrong with her?" Piper didn't ask this gently, she asked it so fiercely because she knew in her heart that her mom wasn't that messed up. "What's so wrong with her that she needs to stay here for a long time?!"

The doctor, a man who was American that transferred to France, looked sympathetically at the now crying brunette. The doctor didn't know this, why would he, but the girl's emotions were never like this. At least not in a long time. Not since she met her new best friends. Her new family.

"I know this is hard to comprehend, but you have to remember that it was a very serious car crash. She's suffering terribly from PTSD, she needs to stay here until she gets better."

Piper sank into the chair behind her. She was in her mother's old hospital room, the only people occupying it now was just her dad, the doctor, and her.

She knew what her mom's doctor was talking about, memories flashed of the days before in the middle of the night; her mom had been silently sleeping with Piper near her, then suddenly screaming came from her mom, or crying, sobbing, cries of agony. Piper would rush to her mom's bed, but as soon as she got there she would be too late and her mom became silent. It became so frequent that Piper would just sleep next to her mom, her head on her mom's legs. Then, when her mom cried Piper would be there to comfort her, to be there for her mom.

"Piper?" Her dad asked, he took Piper's attention away from the memories of her mom. "What do you say?"

Then, she realized that the doctor had been talking to her, she looked sheepishly at him. "Sorry, could you repeat that please?"

The doctor nodded, unbothered by Piper ignoring him. "How would you like to stay in Paris until your mom gets better? Both of you're parents have agreed and I think you being here would help your mom out so much. She's been so happy these past few days."

She looked at her dad and saw the hopefulness in his eyes, "Could I maybe go back to New York after this and think about it? I mean, I am still in school."

"Of course, I'll leave you two to talk about it. You're always welcome to come back," he smiled at her, then walked out of the room to give the father and daughter some privacy.

Piper got up from the chair that had been her cushion then looked at her dad. "Dad, what do I do about school? I still have a million things to do at school, you do know I'm a junior right?!" Piper didn't say those things to her dad angrily, instead, she was genuinely worried about school.

"And you can do all of those things over here. We can always hire a tutor or teacher to work with you. It's not big deal, but if you really don't want to do this, then you don't have to stay. But, you should just really think about it. Alright?" Her dad said all of this calmly.

"I'll think about it."

"Great."

Piper sat back down in the chair and watched her dad leave, after he had left the doorway she took her phone out. She looked at the back of her phone. There, she had found what she was expecting: the photo of her and her friends from the winter dance. It seemed like it had been years ago since the dance, but it was only months.

A tear rolled down her cheek, she hadn't told anyone about her mom. She didn't tell them that it was getting worse. Instead, she told them the exact opposite. She told them that her mom was getting so much better and she couldn't wait to meet them all. Piper hadn't even told her mom about her best friends.

It wasn't that she didn't want to stay with her mom in Paris, but Paris was so far away from Leo, Jason, Annabeth, Percy, Calypso and Reyna. It almost felt unnatural to not have them in Paris where she could hug them and cry with them. Piper had to do this alone and she didn't know if she could.

* * *

"Do you know why they're not talking?" Leo whispered to Percy. The two were watching Reyna and Annabeth ignore each other, but utterly failing.

The two girls were reading from across the table of the library, glaring at each other every two seconds. Percy and Leo had just finished another gym session, sweating off their worries when Percy walked into another one.

Jason walked up to the two boys who were sweating. "I know why they aren't talking."

The two boys looked at him, waiting impatiently for his answer. They all stared at the two girls, waiting to see which one would make the next move. Annabeth had just thrown a bookmark at Reyna's arm.

"Two words: mustard and ketchup," Jason said this before Reyna had written ketchup on a piece of paper and slid it towards Annabeth.

Annabeth glared daggers at the brunette.

"Ugh," Percy groaned. "Not again."

Leo shrugged, "Well I don't see the problem, _obviously_ ketchup is the better choice."

Percy looked offended at Leo and was ready to punch the Latino boy.

Jason held up a hand to the boy's chest, "Please don't. I've had my fair share of cat fights today."

"Who said this was a cat fight?" Percy sauntered over to Annabeth, but before he did he circled around Leo. He whispered, "Mustard will prevail. This means war."

Jason sighed, "I will honestly only use mayonnaise now, just so I don't get caught up in the middle of this."

Leo cracked his knuckles, "Too late, you just chose mayo over ketchup AND mustard. You might actually be the thing that unites us both. But you'll also be the one that's screwed, sooo."

"At least I was good for one thing," Jason shrugged and pointed to the couch where they could both sit.

Leo nodded.

Once the two had sat down, he started up a conversation, "Have you heard from Piper yet? I'm starting to get worried."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "She isn't accepting my calls or texts. You?"

"Same, what do we do?"

"Hope for the best? Fly to Paris?"

"First, yes. Second, can't."

"Man, what do we do for the next three days then?" Jason looked at the table that now occupied Reyna, Calypso, Annabeth and Percy. ' _Traitor_ ,' Jason thought as he looked at Leo, who was alone in the newly spawned war.

"We could mope around and act worried sick," a sly grin appeared in the boy's face. "Or we could throw her an awesome party."

"How about I do the first one and you do the second one? I'm better at worrying, anyways," Jason offered

Leo sighed, "Well, then Imma throw the best party that any of us have ever been. IT'S GONNA BE LIT!"

"Please don't say that. Or else you'll find yourself the only one on team ketchup."

Leo rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, Jasey Wasey, you know you love me."

"Not as much as Reyna's love for ketchup."

"True."

* * *

"So what are you going to do?" Katie asked from across the table. She and Piper had scheduled another lunch that day. They were eating their usual meals.

Piper shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea. What do I do?" She looked at Katie hopeful, she wanted the brunette that sat across from her to have all of the answers that she needed.

Katie looked at Piper sadly and grabbed her hand like they were best friends that understood each other. "Call your friends. Ask them what they think."

When Katie had said the word friends, Piper started to well up with tears. She was so hopeless. All that she wanted to do was hug Jason and Leo and have everything get better. She wanted everything to be okay but the reality was that it won't be anymore. No matter how hard she tried, all of their lives were going to change, even if her friends didn't know it would. Piper could feel the past in he past and the future sprinting towards her, taunting her. The future was telling her that she needed to grow up. And fast. No matter how much she didn't want to.

High school wasn't meant to last forever. And neither was childhood.

* * *

 _A/N: I started this story a year ago in Disney World. I'm in Disney World right now and I'm reliving the moments where I was so excited to start this story in the shower. I was filled with so much inspiration, and I'm happy to say that I still am. This story is slowly ending and it's actually crazy. I thought this story would never end, but in a far distance I can see the ending and I'm happy with it. All I wanted for this story was to make people happy and laugh, and I hope I am. Thanks for being with me and here's to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Here's to The Heroes of Olympus. Here's to us._

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**

 **I think you're pretty amazing and cool. I hope you enjoyed.**


	23. A Broken Welcome

**_Important A/N:_ THIS IS A REUPLOADED CHAPTER. _When I first posted this chapter, there was supposed to be a scene where Jason picks up Piper. When I posted it, it wasn't there. If you haven't read this chapter, read the whole thing. But if you have already read this chapter, scroll to the second set of dots (_ •••) _and start from there. Either way, please read the last part of the chapter, I have been planning it in my head for such a long time and it breaks my heart that it wasn't posted before. New chapter will be posted today to make up for it ;)_**

* * *

 _disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

* * *

The invention of waiting is pointless. How long does someone have to wait until the person they want to hear from most finally answers?

Jason paced the room, staring at the amount of FaceTime calls that hadn't been answered by Piper. The pattern of his footsteps left imprints on his carpet floor. He stared at them as well. Staring at multiple things weren't as bad as staring at one thing.

His mind became bored. Bored of it all. He left to get a drink of water.

Piper was supposed to come back tomorrow morning. It would be the first time she would interact with the group ever since she stopped talking to them completely. No texts, no phone calls, no emails, nothing. Zilch. Zippo. Zip.

She was supposed to call him tonight, Jason was still holding out hope that she would call him and tell him everything is okay, because why wouldn't everything be okay? All she had been talking about was that her mom was getting better, and Aphrodite couldn't wait to see them all. So, what changed? What happened?

He set down the glass of water next to his bed and began to pace again. His footsteps become a marching rhythm that he enjoyed.

His eyes were filled to the brim with the hope that his small screen would light up and say that Piper was trying to FaceTime him. It didn't.

His phone rang, his heart leaped. As he looked at the caller ID, it sank back to where it was. "Hey, man."

"Nothing?" Leo asked, sounding as worried and nervous as Jason was.

"Nope, I guess we'll see her tomorrow, then."

Leo sighed and Jason could hear him nod his head.

"I hope she's okay."

"Me too, man. Me too."

Jason went back to pacing.

* * *

Piper looked out of the apartment's window for the last time. Well, the last time for this trip, anyway.

She and her dad had stayed in Aphrodite's penthouse so they could take care of it. Get the mail, the occasional dusting, make sure the couches stayed soft and comfortable.

Her dad walked up behind her and put an arm around her, giving her a side-hug. He rubbed her shoulder and took in the view as well. It reminded himself of all of the memories he's had in the city of love. "You ready, Pipes?"

Piper squeezed her eyes shut for a millisecond after he had said the nickname. It reminded her too much of Jason and Leo and Annabeth and all of her friends that she would be leaving behind if she were to stay in Paris. She quickly nodded her head so her dad wouldn't notice that she was ready to cry. She turned around and headed for the doorway, "Yeah, let's get this show on the road."

She gave him a fake smile, too. A cover for how she really felt.

Piper made her way to the elevator with her suitcase rolling behind her. She turned back and looked at her dad, "You coming?"

He nodded, "You go ahead, I have to check on something."

She nodded and headed into the elevator, taking one last look at what might be her home for a long time.

Her dad let out a breath and took a long look at the wide windows of the penthouse. He reminisced about the times he had with Piper's mother: that one time she made him share his chocolate croissant, even though it was his, and his alone, and the time that she made him run in the rain with her just to get a special look at the Eiffel Tower when no one else was around.

He smiled sadly as he took out an envelope poking out of his back pocket. He looked down and saw his cursive writing that spelled out his ex-wife's name. A tear landed on the envelope. Inside was a goodbye. He didn't know if it was from just him or both him and Piper, but he knew a goodbye was said in the letter. Being back in Paris hurt him more than he let on. Seeing his ex-wife hurt more than he said it did.

Tristan McLean placed the letter on the kitchen island.

As he walked towards the elevator, he saw the envelope and looked at the wide windows once again. For the last time.

•••

Piper went onto the airplane first, a hot chocolate in her hand and a croissant shoved into her mouth. A flight attendant greeted her wholeheartedly and Piper smiled as much as she could with the shoved croissant in her mouth. She could hear her dad chuckle from behind her.

She made her way into her seat, in first class next to the window, and brought her backpack onto her lap. She pulled her phone out as her dad put their carry-on suitcases in the upper compartments. Thousands of missed calls were on Piper's home screen. Most were from Jason.

She sighed and looked out the window, hoping her dad wouldn't notice that a tear was rolling down her cheek. She hadn't told anyone about anything and it killed her. So many emotions had gone through Piper's mind since the beginning of the trip and her best friends didn't even have a clue. They thought everything was going well, when it was actually the exact opposite. Piper still hadn't made up her mind about whether she wanted to stay.

Her dad rubbed her shoulder gently and she looked at him, tears coming down and all. His expression softened and rested her head on his shoulder. Piper's tears continued to stream and he stroked her head, wiping away the tears. She was grateful for the croissant in her mouth. Food always helped.

* * *

"So, what's your game plan?" Leo asked, his voice booming through Jason's car speaker.

"Um, I'm gonna wing it?" Jason spotted the exit to the airport Piper would be landing in.

Leo groaned, "Really? Did you at least bring the worms?"

"By worms you mean gummy worms, right? Cause I am not touching real worms for Piper. That's too much." Jason switched lanes and glanced at the huge bag of gummy worms he had bought with Annabeth.

"No, I mean real worms, Jason, because Piper would LOVE that," Jason could hear Leo roll his eyes. "Calypso said that you should've bought ice cream. Do you think you should've bought ice cream?"

Jason shook his head but realized Leo couldn't see him, "Nah, it would melt. But tell Calypso it was still a good idea."

"Leo made a muffled noise over the phone, "What time is she landing?"

"Um," he glanced at the car's clock. "Around 15 minutes, why?"

Leo shouted at a person whose name sounded like Percy's, "I needed to know how long Percy had to buy a pinata. I swear if he isn't back in 10 with a dolphin pinata he is in big trouble."

Jason laughed and shook his head. He drove into the airport's parking lot. "Hey, man, I'm pulling in right now so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"See you later, bro. And pray for Percy cause I will actually kill him if that dolphin isn't here by the time Piper has eaten all of the gummy worms."

"Will do, talk to you soon."

•••

Jason held the bag of gummy worms at the baggage pickup for a flight coming in from Paris. He stood there for a couple of minutes, then looked up as soon as he heard a certain brunette's voice begging her dad to buy her gummy worms.

He smiled as he saw Piper finally spot him.

"Nevermind, Dad. I'VE GOT A WHOLE BAG OF WORMS!" She ran up to Jason and hugged him.

"I missed you," Jason breathed into her ear.

"I missed you, too, Blondie."

Jason tried to pull apart to give Piper the worms, but she wouldn't budge.

"No," she hugged tighter. "I need a hug for a little bit longer."

Jason obliged but then started to feel Piper shake. She shook until she probably couldn't remember what it felt like to be still. He then felt tears on the back of his sweatshirt.

"Hey, Pipes. What's the matter?" He gripped her tighter.

"Everything. Everything's horrible, Jase. It's terrible. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you all. I should've told the truth," Piper started to sob.

"Hey, it's okay." Jason stroked her hair and tried to calm her down. She gripped him tighter.

"No, it's really not. I lied. My mom's not better, she's getting worse. Terrible, maybe. Definitely worse. Jason, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?!" She crumpled down, making Jason hold her up.

He kept trying to calm her down, then finally let go of the bag of gummy worms. Jason looked towards Mr. McLean and saw a sadness in his eye.

Jason gave him a look that asked, "Do you want to take over?"

Piper's dad shook his head and said, "She needs you more than me right now."

Jason nodded and gripped Piper until she could calm down. It seemed like this would last forever. Jason's heart broke each time Piper cried, it broke more and more.

* * *

 _A/N: I'm sorry for re uploading this chapter, but I loved this end scene and I can't stand so many people reading the first part and the chapter just ending abruptly. This meant to be there and it wasn't. BUT chapter 24 is coming soon, so don't you worry ;)_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	24. Deep Breaths

_disclaimer: I do not own these characters by Rick Riordan or the song How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

The only sound in the car was the repeating click of the left indicator.

Jason switched lanes as he took a quick glance at Piper through the mirror. She had been silent ever since they had gotten into his car. Unless the occasional crinkle of the gummy bear bag counted. It was half way finished.

She had used up all of the tissues in the passenger compartment and claimed that she was fine afterwards, but her eyes said the exact opposite. Her eyes didn't have the sparkle that was always there. Jason loved that sparkle.

Piper wasn't being the Piper that Jason always knew. She wasn't the easy-going, funny, happy Piper that was there for her friends. Right now, she wasn't the Piper that he could open up to about his dad or Reyna. She was a different Piper; she was the Piper that was hidden from all of her friends. She was the broken Piper.

She shoved her hand into the gummy bear bag. Crinkle. Chew. She ate three green ones.

Crinkle. Chew. She ate two orange ones.

Crinkle. Chew. She was about to eat four white ones. About to.

"Hold it right there, McLean," Jason stopped her. "Do you really think I'm going to let you eat _four_ white gummy bears?" Jason cracked a smile at her and grabbed the gummy bear bag.

"Jason, give!" Piper gave a small smile. A smile so small that someone could only see it if they were really looking. Jason saw it.

 _Yes_ , Jason thought. _It wasn't a lot, but it was something,_ he had hope that he could help her feel better.

Jason grinned as he grabbed the poor gummy bears and shoved his hand into the bag to grab a handful of them. He put the bears into his mouth, not caring about the colors. He glanced at Piper and saw that she was playing along, her arms crossed.

He shoved another handful in his mouth. He then crumpled the top of the bag and tossed it back to Piper.

She looked at him and grinned, making him grin as well. He loved her smile so much.

Piper went on to eat her gummy bears and a more comfortable silence came over the two. Jason looked at the clock and saw that they would make it to Annabeth's house at around 3.

 _Thirty more minutes_ , Jason thought. _Might as well ask her._ He mustered up the courage, then cleared his throat. He kept his eyes straight, staring at the light blue Ford car in front of them.

"Hey," he said. He switched his eyes to the mirror, looked at her, then back to the light blue Ford. "Are you okay?"

Piper's face shifted from her previous smile into a small frown. It wasn't a mad frown but, instead, a sad, hopeless frown. Jason hated that frown on her.

"Um," she fidgeted with a white gummy bear. "Not.. really." She bit the head off of the white gummy bear and chewed it slowly.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jason shifted his eyes to the mirror again, hoping that Piper saw that he wasn't trying to pry. He was concerned. Really concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I want to." Piper took a shaky breath in, eating two red gummy bears. She started to talk quickly, "So, you should probably know, if you don't already, that I lied to you. I lied to all of you. My mom isn't doing well, or at least I thought she was, but then..." she looked at Jason.

He stared at the light blue Ford, then looked at her quickly. "Take a deep breath, Pipes," he tried to calm her. All Jason wanted to do was hug her but, for obvious reasons, he couldn't. "Start from the beginning so you don't miss anything."

Piper took another breath, the sound of him saying Pipes calmed her. "Okay. Alright, I'm ready. So, I arrived in Paris..."

She told him her story. She told him about the hospital, her mom, her mom's room, Katie, her dad, the doctor's offer, her mom's penthouse. Everything. Piper told him about how her mom would wake up crying, or screaming, or both and how she felt so helpless. But she also told him about Katie's mom's store, the full, sprouted sunflowers. The innocent white daisies. She told him about the airplane ride.

"You know, I don't even know why I cried. I just looked out the window and saw the sun and I cried," Piper said, a tear rolling down her face. Jason reached over to wipe it off.

"I'm sorry, Pipes," Jason said this in a way that showed that he was really sorry. He was sorry that her mom was going through bad times. He was sorry that Paris was so beautiful and her mom was in a bad state. He was sorry that she had to make a huge decision in the course of the next few weeks. He was so, gosh darn, sorry.

Piper nodded and knew that he meant it. "Thank you, Jason."

"Your welcome."

Piper reached into the gummy bear bag and ate three white gummy bears. Jason yelled at her.

* * *

The silence had gotten comfortable between Jason and Piper in the car. It was relaxing. So why was Piper's heart beating out of her chest as they pulled into Annabeth's driveway?

When Piper saw the familiarity of Annabeth's gray rooftop, she immediately felt at peace. Then the fact that Piper hadn't been in Annabeth's home for such a long time settled in. That was around the time her heart started to pump blood a little too fast. Her fingers and toes trembled, her lip was slightly quivering.

Jason looked at her, and gave her a calming look. He cut the engine and let the peacefulness of silence fill the air.

He sighed, making everything a thousand times louder for Piper again. She nodded to herself, _You can do this. You're going to see your best friends again. You've always been able to do this._ But the truth was that she hadn't. She had never opened up to others, let alone any of her old friends. _But they're different,_ she thought, trying to release all of the bad memories of her old friends. _T_ _hey accept you, Piper. You can do this._

She nodded to Jason.

He gave her a smile and got out of the car and opened the door for her. "You ready?" He squeezed her shoulders supportively and Piper quickly nodded her head.

She needed to get this over with. Piper walked towards Annabeth's front door and breathed in, closing her eyes. _Three rings and she'll know it's you,_ she thought. She chuckled at the memory of her and Annabeth making up secret signals so they know it's each other and not a serial killer. _"It's bound to happen,"_ Piper had said. She could hear the fast stomps Annabeth had made to get to the door.

Piper was trying to hold back the tears and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her side and smiled sadly at Jason, who was trying his best to comfort her.

Annabeth unlocked the door and greeted Piper with a humongous smile and tackled her into a hug. Piper hugged her back and laughed into her blonde hair.

"Where have you _been_ , McLean?!" Annabeth asked as she brought Piper into her house.

"Paris. Did you not get my postcard?" Piper joked. She saw Jason close and lock the door behind her.

The two girls walked into the living room, arm in arm. She was trying her best to keep all of her emotions in.

Streamers had been hung all across the ceiling, pictures of everyone together fell into the sky, and balloons were everywhere. A random person would think that someone had risen from the dead because of all of the decorations.

Piper grinned widely as she saw all of her friends lined up holding a sign. It said, 'WELCOME HOME, PIPER' in bold, purple letters. She loved it.

They all tackled her and started to talk a mile a minute. Leo hit her saying that she should've called; Calypso tried to get Piper to dance to the music that had been playing in the background, it was Katy Perry; Percy asked if cake tasted better there, which it did; and Reyna just hugged her tightly.

Piper felt so much love in that moment that she started to cry. She fell onto the floor and started to weep into Reyna's arms. Mumbles of , "I'm sorry"'s and "I should have called" echoed in the living room. Everyone else was silent.

Except for Reyna. And Jason. _Gosh,_ Piper thought. _They're such a supportive couple. I wonder if the boy I fall in love with will be as supportive as them._

She calmed down and repeated what she said before to Jason to her other friends. It was hard to talk about her mom, but she needed to do it. Piper needed to tell her friends the truth. She needed to tell them about the decision she needed to make.

* * *

"Come on, Piper! Put your back into it!" Leo screamed at a blind-folded Piper.

Everyone was jumping up and down as Piper swung at the pink dolphin piñata Percy had gotten from the store. Leo had screamed at Percy for getting a pink dolphin.

•••

 _"PIPER DOESN'T NEED A PINK DOLPHIN, PERCY SHE NEEDS A REALISTIC DOLPHIN. A GRAY ONE, HECK, A BLUE ONE. BUT, NO! YOU JUST HAD TO GET HER A PINK DOLPHIN,"_ Leo had said to him before grudgingly putting the string that hung it up onto the ceiling.

Percy had made a face towards Leo when Piper screamed of joy when she spotted the pink dolphin and named her Julia. _"Jackson: 1, Valdez: 0,"_ he had said.

•••

Piper swung dead center at the dolphin, but still couldn't seem to break her. She asked if she did it when everyone screamed.

She didn't. She did accidentally kill a bug, though they didn't tell her that. She hated bugs.

"Um," Jason started.

"YES! YOU DID!" Leo screamed as he pushed Julia to the ground, and stomped on her, breaking her fin and releasing the candy that had been stowed away inside.

"YEAH!" Jason said and kicked Julia's face, releasing more candy.

"GUYS! WHAT DID JULIA EVER DO TO YOU?" Percy screamed and fell onto the floor, trying to help Julia the dolphin.

Annabeth petted his head, trying to coax him to get up. Meanwhile, Reyna was trying to stop Piper from swing the club and walking to random places so she could take off Piper's blindfold. It was no such luck.

Piper hadn't heard them say she hit Julia so she was walking around the living room hitting anything that didn't feel like air. She hit Leo twice. Once in the face and the second, his butt.

"MCLEAN I KNOW YOU WANT SOME OF THIS," Leo gestured to himself. "But please try to avoid the best parts of me."

"And what parts might be those?" Percy asked, slowly recovering from the loss of Julia the dolphin.

Reyna finally got Piper's blindfold off.

"Um, my face and booty, of course. Jeez, Jackson, you act like you've never checked me out before." Leo winked at Percy.

Everyone laughed and started to pick up the candy coming outside of Julia's stomach, even though Percy protested.

Piper looked at all of her friends and smiled, thinking how lucky she was.

* * *

"So," Jason started. "Do you think it went well?" He was picking up the leftovers from Piper's party: cupcake wrappers, cookie crumbs, plates with cake now scraped off and probably in Leo's digestive system.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. I just hope she got everything off of her plate that needed to be. Leo should be helping her through it right now." She threw away some of the streamers into the garbage bag Jason was holding.

Leo had offered to drive Piper home and the others decided to tag along. Jason stayed behind to help Annabeth clean up.

The two had a comfortable silence in the living room as they picked up plates with left over cake on them and empty cups.

Annabeth took a deep breath, "So, Jason."

"Yeah?" he asked then picked up a horrifyingly dirty plate and made a face. "What's up?"

"Um," Annabeth faltered, she then got her confidence back. "How are things with you and Reyna?"

"Oh," Jason put the gross plate into Annabeth's bag. "I think it's going well, what about you?" He started to pick up trash more quickly.

Annaberg shrugged, "I dunno. Ever since Piper got back you seemed a little, I guess, distant. Is there something going on?" She twisted around a cake-less plate.

Jason was startled to hear her say that. He thought that _because_ Piper was back him and Reyna were even better. "Really? How?"

"It's just that, you seemed to spend so much time with Piper today and Reyna kind of stood by herself for most of the party."

Jason tried to interrupt, "Well, I was-"

Annabeth went on, "I know, you were trying to comfort Piper, but, I don't know, it just seemed different between you and Reyna today. Now I'm only going to ask this because I care about both you and Reyna. I care about _both_ of yours and hers happiness," she paused. "Do you think you're dating the right girl, Jase?"

Jason looked away, collecting his thoughts. He had flashbacks from the argument he had with Percy over this exact thing. _Maybe I should break up with Reyna_ , Jason thought. He shook his head, _No. She's the one I want to be with. She's the one I'm going to win the game with._ He nodded his head, his mind made up. _I'm so close in winning, I'm two girls ahead of Percy. I can't stop now._ Victory was so close, Jason's mouth he could taste a hint of it. Reyna was the girl he was going to win with. No one else.

"Jase, are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

He snapped back to reality, "Yeah, yeah. And to answer your question, I think I am. Annabeth, I really like Reyna."

She nodded her head and picked up an empty cup, looking unconvinced.

Jason took a breath in, "I think I might love her."

Annabeth suddenly dropped the cup in her bag, "You do?"

Jason gave a slight nod, not knowing himself if he _actually_ loves Reyna. "I think I do."

"You _think_?" Annabrth crossed her arms over her chest. "Jase, you can't just _think_ you _love_ someone. It's a yes or no answer. Do you really love Reyna?"

 _It's now or never, Grace_ , Jason thought to himself. And for the first time, he went back to the arragont self he was before Piper came to Goode. "I do, Annabeth I love Reyna. And I really don't appreciate you thinking I don't. Were you implying that I'm dating a girl I don't even like? What jerk would do that?" Jason's voice rose each time he spoke until he was shouting.

Annabeth looked at him shocked, then started to glare daggers into him. "You, Mr. Jason I-Don't-Care-About-Other-People's-Feelings Grace. _You're_ the one who slept with half the grade. _You're_ the one who thought sleeping with other people was a sport and not something important. I hope and pray that you're telling the truth when you say that you love Reyna, because if you're lying, then I'll personally put my fist into your face."

Jason rolled his eyes, "You're the one whose dating the guy who slept with the other half of the grade."

Annabeth pointed to her front door, "Get out. Now." She glared at him and took away his trash bag.

"I was already planning on it. See ya," he walked outside and slammed the door.

He got into his car and started to breathe heavily. He didn't know what got over him, he didn't know how to deal with this. Annabeth was one of his best friends, he didn't know why he acted so badly to her. _What am I going to do? You really effed this one up, Grace. Good going._ He hadn't acted like this ever since Piper came to Goode. Why was he suddenly acting like this?

He started his car up and rubbed his eyes, realizing that there were tears threatinging to come out. He pulled out of the drive way to go home. If he even had one anymore. _I think I just lost my best friend,_ Jason thought.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully you got to read the reuploaded version of chapter 23 before reading this one, if you didn't there was a really important last scene that accidentally wasn't posted with the first upload._

 _Thanks for reading and please review to tell me your thoughts!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	25. Decisions, Decisions

_disclaimer: I don't own the characters, Finding Nemo, or the inspiration to this story: How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

Piper laid, sprawled out on her bed as she listened to Annabeth on the phone. Leo and her friends had dropped her off thirty minutes ago and as soon as she could breathe by herself, Annabeth had called her.

She answered and went into full best friend mode because of the worry that had filled Annabeth's voice. She sounded like she was having a nervous breakdown from the way she said, " _Hey, Piper_ " so shakily.

Piper nodded her head as Annabeth continued to rant about how stupid boys were, including Jason Grace. Mostly Jason Grace. She still couldn't believe that Jason would act like that, this wasn't like him. She had flashbacks to the first few days that she met Jason.

 _He rolled his eyes and they stayed quiet until they reached their lockers. Piper awkwardly said,"Well, thanks for showing me to my locker, Grace." He replied slyly, "No problem. And if you need anything else for me to show you, don't hesitate." He winked at her and Piper shoved him away and replied with disgust, "Ugh! Perv!" He laughed and left._

The two had joked. Jason had gotten a little too close to her, but she didn't mind. He was just joking around with her. He was a nice guy.

"So, Piper. What do you think?" Annabeth said over the phone.

Piper snapped back to reality. "Sorry, sorry. Can you repeat that?"

"I don't think Jason actually likes Reyna, Piper."

Piper laughed, "You can't be serious Annabeth. He's head over heels for her. Can't you see the way he looks at her?"

"Can you see the way he looks at you?" Annabeth said meekly.

"What are you trying to say, Annabeth?" Piper said in a whisper, in disbelief. "That Jason Grace likes me? Totally. Definitely. HE likes the girl that SET HIM AND REYNA UP."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Pipes, I talked to him. The very idea of him not liking Reyna built his defenses up again. You broke down his barriers. The very idea of you leaving for Paris is slowly building up the walls in his brain and he doesn't even know it yet."

"Annabeth, come on. We both know that Jason and Reyna were practically built by the gods to be together."

"Were they?"

Piper looked up at her white ceiling. _Were they made for each other?_ she asked herself.

* * *

Jason paced back in forth in his room. What he said to Annabeth had nothing to do with her and Percy's relationship.

Too many things had happened these past few weeks. Reyna was the one thing constant in his life. Percy and Annabeth had gotten together. Leo started to talk about college with him. Calypso had an actual conversation with him. Too many variables encircled his already-bursting head. He needed the comfort of something. Someone.

He had flashbacks to the first few days he met Piper.

 _He rolled his eyes and they stayed quiet until they reached their lockers. Piper awkwardly said,"Well, thanks for showing me to my locker, Grace." He replied slyly, "No problem. And if you need anything else for me to show you, don't hesitate." He winked at her and Piper shoved him away and replied with disgust, "Ugh! Perv!" He laughed and left._

It seemed like he was missing something. Something that he had found, once he looked at her.

He shook the thought away. He _loved_ Reyna. He couldn't do this to her for a petty crush that had already been crushed. It was forced away a long time ago. A Luke-long-time-ago. Reyna was the one for him. Or at least the one for the next few weeks. He and Percy started the quest, or bet, at the beginning of the year and it was his mission to complete it. It was his mission to win.

•••

"Hey man, what's up?" Leo said on the other line.

Jason had spent the last few hours sitting in his room, music blasting out of his speakers so loud his eardrums were numb. He had to escape from civilization, but he was now ready to jump back in. "Nothing. You wanna shoot some hoops?"

"Sure, why not. Meet you in twenty," Leo said cheerfully and hung up.

Jason huffed, shaking out his hair and went to his closet to change. He opened it up and found a blue v-neck t-shirt. He put it on, but then suddenly realized it was the one he wore the first time Piper gave him pointers on Reyna. Flashbacks of them joking around skidded across his brain. He had to shake it hard to think of something other than Piper.

His doorbell rang, indicating that Leo had arrived. Thirty minutes after their phone conversation.

He ran downstairs and threw open the door, showing the Latino boy leaning against one of the two pillars outside of Jason's front door. He wore a mischevious grin on his face. "Ready for me to beat you, Grace?"

"In your dreams, Valdez." Jason walked out and closed the door behind him.

The two jogged around his house to the part of his backyard that had a basketball court. Leo grabbed a ball that had been lazily left on the lawn. He threw it in and the two boys started to play one-on-one.

As Jason threw in a free throw, Leo started a conversation in the once muted air. "So, where've you been? Percy said Annabeth was freaking out after you left her house."

Jason shrugged, getting the rebound of his missed throw. "Nothing to worry about. I've just been in my room."

Leo snorted and stole the ball from Jason, "Jason Grace sulking in his bedroom? What happened, trouble in Reyna-dise?"

"No," He replied as he started to run after Leo. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Piper stuff?" Leo paused, letting Jason steal the ball back easily.

"Pft, no," Jason threw the ball, missing again. "Why do people keep saying that? 'Piper stuff?' 'Do you really like Reyna?' I don't get it. Yes, I like Reyna. She's my _girlfriend_. I'm not gonna date her if I don't like her!"

Leo took the rebound this time and took a shot, making it in. "Jase, hate to break it to you, but you've dated plenty of girls that you didn't like. You've had s-e-x with girls you didn't know the names of. We've gotta draw the line somewhere and that line is Reyna. Reyna is my best friend. So are you. I want the best for both you and her.

Jason rolled his eyes and took the ball. He ran so fast towards the hoop, he almost tripped. "So are you saying I'm not what's best for Reyna?" He shot the ball. It went in.

Leo stopped running. "If it's meant to be, it'll be. But if there is someone meant for you that isn't Reyna, I don't want you to put both Reyna and you through that, through this. You've gotta stop this, Jase. Do you love Piper?"

* * *

Jason stopped in his tracks. He was going to get the basketball but, instead, he sat down on the ground and shook his head.

Leo knew what was happening, he was thinking. But, there comes a time, where a person needs to stop thinking and speak. "Jase, don't shut us out. Do you love Piper?"

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?! There, I said it. I DON'T KNOW IF I LOVE PIPER. I MIGHT. I DON'T KNOW."

Leo's shoulders slumped. He hoped that Jason wouldn't say that. He so badly wanted Reyna to be happy and, right now, she was happiest with Jason. "Then you can't keep Reyna like this. She's been questioning herself ever since she got back from Puerto Rico. You need to talk to her. You need to talk to Piper."

Jason looked up, both fury and sadness seen in his eyes. "Since when were you besties with Reyna?"

"Since my bestie, aka you, has been distant ever since Piper left for Paris."

"What do you mean? I talk to you every day."

"Not about the things that we used to talk about, Jason," Leo said. He brought the basketball back into the court. "Jase, we used to talk about college, about girls, about family. Now, we only talk about basketball scores and how pretty Piper's hair is."

Jason put his head in his hands and groaned. "What do I do man?"

Leo hit him with the basketball. "Getcha head in the freaking game and decide."

* * *

"Helloooooooooo?" Piper said sing-songy. She had an ice cream cone in her hand.

"Hey," Leo's voice answered. His voice was not as cheerful as she wanted it to be.

"What's wrong, Leo-Peeo?"

"Leo-Peeo?"

"Nothing rhymes with Leo, Leo. You have a sucky name," Piper said, licking her ice cream.

"Weirdo. Magneto. Depot. Enrico. Treeco. Freeco. So many words that rhyme with my awesome name and you choose Peeo," Leo replied blankly.

"YOU MADE UP THE LAST TWO. I'M SORRY I'M NOT AS ADVANCE AS YOU ARE," Piper ferociously licked her ice cream.

"YOU SHOULD BE," Leo responded.

"But," she licked the ice cream. "What's wrong, dude? You don't sound Leo-y. Not a good look on you."

"You can't see me."

"I know, but I can feel it. I'm not your best friend for nothing."

Leo chuckled, "Whatever you say. It's Jason. I dunno what to do with him anymore."

"Want me to talk to him?" Piper said casually, more focused on eating the ice cream before it all melted than the words she had just said.

Leo replied a little too eagerly, "You want to talk to him? Sure, why not!"

Piper gave a weird look at him, even though she could only see the look she gave. "Okay, okay. No need to jump off a cliff for me. I'll just add Jase to this conversation."

"NO!"

"Fine, fine. I'll call him later," Piper muffled, trying to eat the now dripping ice cream.

"I think he needs you right now," Leo said.

"Uggggghhhhhhhh. Fine, I'll call him after I beat this ice cream cone. BYEEEEEE LEO-PEEO!"

He groaned, "I hope this isn't your new nickname for me. I'd rather have 'stupid-short-handsome-latino boy'."

"Don't say that. You're giving me ideas. Insert wink," Piper cheekily said as she finished the last of the ice cream drips.

"Just call hiiiiiimmmmmmmm."

"Fiiiiiiinnnneeeee. BYE STUPID-SHORT-HANDSOME-LATINO BOY!"

Leo groaned as Piper hung up.

* * *

Jason lay on his bed, fresh out of the shower, as his phone started to ring. He picked up, not looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" he said groggily.

"HELLO MR. GRUMPY GILLS," Piper said in her best imitation of Dory. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WHEN LIFE GETS YOU DOWN?"

Jason groaned, "Pipes, not the right time."

"JUST KEEP SWIMMING. JUST KEEP SWIMMING. JUST KEEP SWIMMING SWIMMING SWIMMING. WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU SWIM SWIM."

"PIIIIIIPPPPPPPESSSSSSSSSSSS."

"HA HAHA AHAH HA HAAAAAAAAUUUUUU I LOVE TO SWWWIIIIMMMM," she said in her best opera voice. A very bad, sad opera voice.

"You done?" Jason asked, flipping over to lay on his back.

"Yes, now are you okay?" Piper asked. "Annabeth talked to me after the blowup."

Jason winced, "Did she say any particular details?"

"Nope, she just said it was something over you and Reyna." Piper decided to not mention the whole 'Jason might like you' thing.

"Oh, okay."

"Why?"

"Nothing."

"Don't make me go all Dory on you again. TEEELLLL MEEEEEEE," Piper pleaded.

Jason shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing to talk about. I was just in a bad mood."

"Mhm," Piper said, unconvinced. "So, when are you going to tell me the real reason you blew up?"

"Neeevveeerrrrr," Jason replied.

"Don't make me come over and tickle you until you can't breathe and die."

Jason dramatically gasped, "YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

"YES I WOULD. Now, tell meeeeeeee."

"I can't Pipes! This is private!"

"Since when is anything private between us?"

"SINCE YOU DECIDED TO NOT TELL US ABOUT YOUR MOM. ABOUT PARIS." _Shoot_ , Jason thought.

Piper didn't respond.

"Pipes? I'm sorry."

A few seconds passed.

A few minutes passed.

"I told you guys eventually," she said gravely, no sign of the lightness that had just existed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"Look," Piper paused. "I know I haven't been a part of this group for a long time, but I thought you cared about me and trusted me."

"Pipes, I do." _Gosh, you have no idea how much I care about you_ , Jason thought.

"Then tell me what happened. Was it me? Did I cause you to blow up like you did just now?"

Jason sucked in a breath and looked out the window, the moon's light coming in. It was too late for this. "No. Of course not."

"Good," Piper said relieved. "'Cause when I was talking to Annabeth she talked about you liking me. Don't worry, I shut her down as soon as she said that possibility." She nervously laughed over the phone.

"Heh," Jason laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, wouldn't want her saying that."

"Plus, you love Reyna."

Jason didn't reply.

"Jase, you love Reyna right?"

"I might."

"Might?" Piper questioned.

"No," Jason remembered his conversation with Annabeth. "No, I do. I love Reyna." Percy's and Leo's conversation came to mind. _Stop lying to yourself, Grace_ , Jason thought.

"Kay. Glad we got that over with," Piper said a little too quickly. "So, are you okay?"

"Never better, Pipes. It's getting late, don't want Tristan to get mad at me," Jason lightly joked. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see ya. Night," Piper said cheerfully. Not as cheerful as she usually is, though.

"Bye."

* * *

 _YO-YO-YO! LOOKS LIKE I'M NOT DEAD AFTER ALLLLLLL! *SINGING* THIS WAS A SUCCKYY CHAPTER *SINGING*_

 _So sorry this was late. 5 months too late. Just lost the time and motivation to keep writing. But we're getting real close to the end and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm hoping for the next to be a lotttt better!_

 _(Shoutout to Guest: M for reviewing today, you made me determined to update! :))_

 _Thanks for everything, y'all! Will hopefully post a chapter soooooon!_

 _ **~songsaboutjasper**_


	26. The End, Well, Maybe Not

_disclaimer: I don't own these characters or How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 _"Rule number one is that you gotta have fun_

 _But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run"_

 _-How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 ** _The Day Before The First Day of Junior Year..._**

 _Jason smirked at himself. His past two years at Goode High School had been sub-par. He made out with a few girls, even dated some of them. But this year, he was going to go down in history. Junior year for Jason freakin' Grace will be one to remember by all of the students that attended the school. Especially the girls._

 _He put a shirt on, his favorite blue v-neck t-shirt that brought out his eyes. Jeans went on next, and then he shook his hair out. The perfect look to make the girls swoon._

 _"Knock, knock," someone said behind him._

 _He turned around to spot his sister, Thalia, who had just started college. She went into school without a particular degree in mind. Jason envied her. All he has ever wanted was to do something that had substance, but his dad had already set his path in life for him: politics. Sure, his dad's job had substance, but Jason didn't care, in his heart, to go against air pollution. Sure, pollution was bad, but that wasn't something Jason wanted to talk about all. the. damn. time._

 _He smirked at his sister. He gestured to his outfit, "How do I look?"_

 _She snorted and walked towards him. "Not too bad, lil' bro. Not too bad." She messed up his hair a little more than he wanted her to._

 _He rolled his eyes and fixed it, bringing it back to its purposely-messy state._

 _"But don't you dare think that because I'm not at your school anymore you can go all Jason-douchey. I did not help raise my little brother under this roof for you to use girls. We are not your toys and you better not get any ideas." She whacked him on the head for good measure._

 _"Ow," Jason rubbed his head. "Yes, Mother Thalia. Anything else? You wanna read me a story before I go to bed tonight?"_

 _She laughed a tight laugh. "You think you're funny, but I know how guys think. I dated a couple in my day, ya know."_

 _Jason gasped dramatically, "YOU? THE Thalia Grace DATED? WHAT IS THIS WORLD? WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE THALIA!" He fell to the floor for more emphasis._

 _"Funny," she replied, an unamused expression on her face. "Just remember lil' bro. If I hear about you cheating or doing any of that type of crap, you're lower parts will be cut off, courtesy of me." She walked out of the room and left Jason to think about what he was about to do when he entered the halls of Goode._

 _He looked around his room. It had always been neat and tidy before, but, today it was messy. Clothes lying around, bed not yet made. Whatever happened to the freshmen year Jason Grace had been a mystery ever since Percy made him a bet. A game._

 _And this game was something that Jason was going to win._

* * *

 _ **Present Day...**_

Piper looked around at her room. Her dad had already started to pack some of her picture frames and clothes. When he had come in her room the night before, he asked her the pressing question that needed an answer. Would she go to Paris?

Piper had made the lame excuse of her trying to figure it out with her teachers. Tomorrow she would be going back to school and had to make the final decision soon. If she would be going to Paris, her dad wouldn't be joining her. She knew that by the look on his face as he left her mom's penthouse the day they had left. If Piper was going to Paris she would be going alone, her friends and half of her family left in New York.

The obvious answer was to stay at home. But where was home? Was home with her mom and Katie in the bright, beautiful Paris? Or was it with her dad on Saturday nights sitting on the couch and watching The Avengers for the millionth time? Or maybe it was her, Jason, and Leo hanging out. Whatever home was to Piper, she had to figure it out sooner than later.

As she looked at the many boxes that had already been taped up, she knew her future was already choosing it for her. The question was, did Piper like the choice it was making?

* * *

 _"Rule number two, just don't get attached to_

 _Somebody you could lose"_

 _-How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

 _"What's up, dude?" Percy walked up to Jason. He was wearing a black shirt that somehow brought out his sea-green eyes. Whatever color shirt he was wearing didn't matter, it was the fact that he had already stepped up to the plate, his game face on. Jason knew he had to put his game face on as well._

 _"Nothin'. You excited for this year?" Jason responded, the two doing a bro-hug. "Girls. Homework," he paused for effect. "Girls."_

 _Percy chuckled, "You know me too well, Grace. Too well. Now, should we place the bets? The terms?"_

 _"Sure." Jason shrugged. "Condition one: Can't date a girl the opponent's already claimed."_

 _Percy snorted, "Claimed. Isn't that a little too possessive? Girls are people, you know."_

 _"Your definition of 'girls' is a lot more different than mine, my friend."_

 _Percy rolled his eyes, "Fine. Whatever. Condition two: if the girl cheats on you, it doesn't count."_

 _"Like a girl's gonna cheat on us, Perce," Jason joked. "But, yeah. I agree with that. And the final condition: if she dumps you, it doesn't count."_

 _Percy stuck his hand out, "Alright. We got a deal, Grace?"_

 _"We got a deal, Jackson," Jason smirked. He was going to win. He had everything planned out: don't date a girl that you could fall for._

 _But the fact of the matter is, is that life doesn't go by a plan. Fate doesn't want to be controllable or predictable. It's like the weather. A constant, inconsistent mess that even man cannot control. Love and Life are the same as the ever-changing clouds in the sky._

* * *

Piper dialed Reyna's number. It rang three times before she had picked up. "Hey, Piper. Whaddup?"

Piper smiled, hearing the brunette's voice. "Oh, nothing. I just, I wanted to ask you if you could help me, um, pack?"

Reyna stayed silent for a few seconds. "Oh, um, are you... Have you made the decision to go to Paris already?"

"No, no," Piper said quickly. "It's just that my dad, and well, me too, want to get a head start if that is my decision. But, nothing is concrete yet. Don't worry." Piper held her breath.

"Sure," Reyna said reassuringly. "I'll come over. See you in five."

•••

Reyna rang the doorbell, making Piper stop staring at her quarter-packed room. She ran downstairs to answer the door.

Reyna greeted her brightly and went up to Piper's room with her. When the brunette-haired girl saw Piper's room, she gasped. It looked like Piper was really leaving for Paris, no matter how many times Piper reassured her that it wasn't yet decided.

"So, I guess we should just pack some of the things that I can live without," Piper said, gesturing to a corner in her room that she barely touched. It had a black nightstand, some photos spread across the top and a candle that hadn't been burned yet.

Reyna nodded her head and grabbed an empty box that was already made. She started to pack some photo frames that had pictured of Piper and her dad. Some had her old friends. _Funny_ , Reyna thought to herself. _Piper never really talked about her old friends_.

Piper joined her, a box in her own hand, as well. She sat on the floor, reaching underneath her bed to find some spare pillows. They were pillows that had followed Piper since she was seven years old. They had yellow trim, cheesy sayings on the front, and so many memories packed together. She chuckled to herself, "I used to love these pillows."

"Used to?" Reyna asked, blowing some dust off of the photo frame of Piper and her dad.

Piper nodded her head as she packed the pillows in, one by one. "Yeah, then when I was thirteen I thought I was 'too cool' for them, so they went into storage," she sighed. "You know, sometimes I just wish I was thirteen again."

"You can say that again," Reyna agreed. "Sometimes I question even if I should go to college in the next two years..." She trailed off.

Piper was shocked. "How so?" She asked gently, so Reyna didn't have to feel pressured to answer.

Reyna took a deep breath, even though she trusted Piper. "Well, I haven't really told anyone excluding Jason, but ever since I've come back from Puerto Rico, I feel like going back. I don't know if it's the weather, or family, or the sense of belonging I've only felt there, but I want to go back. I've been thinking about going as soon as possible."

Piper nodded, thinking that Reyna meant for summer vacation.

"Like, next month, as soon as possible."

Piper dropped the pillow that she had been putting into the box. "Really? How come you haven't told any of us, Rey?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Everyone has kind of just been so worried about you, and rightfully so. I didn't want to take all of the attention away."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Come on, Reyna. You're as important to this group as I am. We are your best friends and you're ours. You don't have to worry about 'stealing the attention.' There is no attention to steal," she explained as Piper got up to hug Reyna who had stood up from her spot in the corner.

Reyna smiled weakly. "Yeah, well. Ever since you came back, you've kind of been the talk of the group. Especially Jason's central discussion point."

Piper pulled away from the hug. "Is that what this is about?" She asked as gently as possible.

"Maybe. I, I just haven't been sure if he even loves me the way I love him anymore..."

"Have you talked to him?"

Reyna chuckled. "That's the problem, I haven't really talked to him since you've come back," she paused. "I've been thinking about breaking up with him."

Piper looked at her friend intently. Reyna had tears brimming in her eyes, Piper knew how hard this was for her. "Reyna, you're the most amazing person that I have known thus far. You deserve someone who loves you more than you will ever be able to give. That someone may be Jason Grace, but if he isn't, then you need to drop him. You don't deserve the type of heartbreak you are going through. No one does." She pulled Reyna into another hug.

"Thanks, Piper," her friend managed to say in between the sniffles she's released. She pulled away, "But I really thought he was the one, ya know? The one that I could rely on for anything."

"I bet that he was at one point in your relationship. I bet that he has loved you. Loved you with his whole being. How could he not? But if it has worn off, like you think it has, you deserve someone who has the type of undying love that a dog has to his owner. You deserve someone to sweep you off your feet. And nothing less."

Reyna pulled her best friend into another hug. "Thank you, Piper. Thank you so, so much."

Piper smiled and hugged Reyna tightly.

•••

"You know if you have feelings for Jason... I would be okay with it," Reyna said, a few hours later of comfortable, packing silence.

Piper stopped packing her now, useless snow globe collection. For some reason, when she was younger, anytime she went on a trip with her dad, a snow globe was bought as a token. She was in the middle of packing a Kansas snow globe.

"What makes you think that I have feelings for Jason?" Piper asked in a high-pitched voice.

Reyna snorted. "I'm sorry, was I the only one who noticed the sexual tension you two had whenever you were together before he and I started dating? Or was that just me?" She pushed Piper lightly. The brunette had moved onto helping Piper pack the large collection of snow globes.

"What sexual tension?" Piper asked, completely clueless.

The tall girl rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can't tell me that you haven't at least _thought_ about Jason being more than your friend."

"How can you be asking me this? You haven't even broken up with your boyfriend. Who, might I add, is the guy you are trying to set me up with!" Piper plopped the Kansas snow globe a little too loudly into the box.

"I'm just... Looking out for future prospects for you," Reyna winked playfully. "Plus, I know there's someone better than Jason Grace for me, out there in the big blue world."

"Still doesn't give you the right to set your _current_ boyfriend up with your best friend. That crap isn't right, man." Piper shook a snow globe from Paris, the Eiffel Tower standing high, above a couple skating.

"You're right, but better his current girlfriend than a random girl who's implying that she wants you to get together with a taken guy."

"True."

"Aren't I always true?"

"Only sometimes," Piper said playfully. "Okay, now tell me why you're asking me if I like Jason?"

"I have seen the way you looked at him before we were dating. How you still look at him. And, more importantly, how he looks at you. I might still have to find the person who's right for me, but I bet that you have already found your person," Reyna squeezed Piper's shoulder.

"I can't be with Jason. Even if you break up with him, it'll be too soon, Rey. I can't do that. To either of you."

"Piper." Reyna made her friend look at her. She knew how much Piper loved Jason, she just needed her to say it out loud. "What do you want? _Who_ do you want?"

"Rey, it doesn't matter who or what I want. I have to choose whether I'm going to Paris for a long time or if I'm staying here. I have bigger decisions to make than if a petty crush actually means something."

"But what if that 'petty crush' is the thing that makes your decision, Pipes?"

No one has called Piper 'Pipes' since she's come back. No one other than Jason. "What did you just say?"

"What, the decision thing?" Reyna asked, confused.

"No, my nickname."

Reyna smiled. "Pipes."

"Jason's the only one who's called me that ever since I came back. Why?"

"It's kind of his thing."

"Oh." Piper smiled to herself. "Okay."

* * *

 _Rule number three, wear your heart on your cheek_

 _But never on your sleeve, unless you wanna taste defeat"_

 _-How To Be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds_

* * *

Jason hadn't talked to anyone all day. After his conversation with Piper, something inside him couldn't bring him to face any of his friends. This was all too real. His feelings were all too real. But what were his feelings?

There was Reyna: beautiful, smart, and a constant in his life. Her braids so tight and trustworthy, just as her friendship was. Her humor something no one else had. Her love for french fries made Jason's knees weak. She had been there since the beginning. She had always been Reyna: strong and reliable.

But there was Piper: amazing, funny, and a variable in his life. Her multi-colored eyes made his heart melt. Her laugh made him want to play it on repeat. But, she could be leaving for Paris any day. He had let someone, a girl, too close into his life. He had let his teenage need for real love go too far.

So what was his choice? Did he even have to make one, if it was so obvious to him?

* * *

 _a/n: yyyYYOOOOO!_

 _this story is almost over, guys. one more chapter. get ready, the next one's a doozy, at least I hope it will be. thank you guys so much for reading! This isn't the end, yet, though. We have one more chapter and hopefully, you guys will enjoy it!_

 _Once I finish this story I'm going to go through chapter by chapter and fix stupid mistakes like 'the' to 'they.' -_-_

 _thank you for giving this story a chance, hopefully, you've enjoyed this little journey I have created for my one true pair in the entire world!_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**


	27. Happily Ever After

_I started writing this after I posted Ch. 14... I'm like about to cry even though as I'm writing this it isn't even the end..._

 _disclaimer: I do not own these characters and this story concept was ignited by Marina and the Diamonds' amazing song How To Be a Heartbreaker. I also don't own High School Musical *sobs*_

* * *

 **1 year later...**

Jason felt a paper ball fly towards his head and hit him. He turned his head to look at the couch where the thrower sat, trying to look like they didn't throw it. He rolled his eyes and went back to working on his kitchen island. He had been working on Calculus for at least 2 hours and could sense that the thrower sitting on the couch was getting bored. Very bored.

He felt another ball hit his head, he grinned and picked up the ball. "You know, if I knew any better, I would think that you were trying to get my attention," he said towards the thrower as he got up and walked over to the couch away from his homework.

"Well, then you were right. If you knew any better, of course," the person replied as she grinned from the couch.

Jason snorted and walked until he was directly behind her. He brought his arms down, over the couch and hugged her backwardly as she sat on the couch. The girl pretended to not be bothered by it. She sat, swiping her fingers across her phone screen, going through her Instagram and Twitter. Jason continued to try and get her attention by wailing her name for the whole house to hear.

"Would you shut up, already?! We get it you love your girlfriend and she doesn't love you at all, but some people are trying to sleep!" they heard someone yell down the stairs. Some would wonder who it was, not Jason and his girlfriend, though. Without a doubt, it was Thalia Grace.

"Shut up, Thalia!" Jason yelled at his sister.

He did a flip and landed on the couch beside his girlfriend. He grabbed her and forced her to cuddle back. She protested, then laughed and obliged, letting him nuzzle his head in her neck.

"You love me, don't you?" Jason asked against her neck.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh shut up. You know the answer."

Jason looked up at her, "But do I, Mrs. Grace?"

She pushed his head, "Jason, we're not married."

"Fine, fine. I know my place. I'll just sit here and watch you scroll through Instagram. It's obviously more important than me." She grinned and rolled her eyes.

He watched her scroll through the accounts she followed and kissed her head. "I love you."

She rolled her eyes but smiled and pushed his head playfully. "I love you, too, you idiot."

* * *

 **Present Day...**

"Piper, did you decide what you were going to do?" Her dad crept into her room.

Her and Reyna had finished packing most of the things that weren't essential to her survival that afternoon. Piper now sat on her bed, surrounded by enormous pillows and an awfully cozy comforter.

She sat up to answer her dad who sat down next to her. "I don't know, Dad. What should I do?" Her eyes revealed how conflicted she felt inside.

He brought his hand up to her unruly hair and stroked it calmingly. "Honey, I don't want you to feel forced to choose either decision. If you stay here, you get to stay with me and your friends and finish the school year. If you go to Paris you get to stay with your mom and finish the school year. This is your one decision. No one else's."

"But what should I do, Dad?" Piper pleaded. All she wanted more than ever was to do the right choice. But what would that right choice cost?

•••

For once in their lives, their lunch table was silent.

Piper had walked over to Annabeth and Reyna to their usual lunch table but something unsaid spoke a thousand words per minute. The other girls knew what decision Piper had to make, and they both wanted her to make the decision that was best for her. Piper was their best friend, after all.

"So," Annabeth started.

Piper perked up at the sound of spoken words. "Yeah?"

Annabeth took a bite of her mustard-dipped fries. "The lunch menu had something new. Chicken quesadilla. I wonder if it actually tastes like a quesadilla."

"Or chicken," Reyna laughed.

Piper's hopes that they would talk about something that actually mattered flitted away. _No_ , she thought. _We need to talk about this_. She then proceeded to do something she knew she would regret. She took one of Reyna's fries.

Reyna looked at the brunette in horror but didn't say anything.

Piper sighed and put the fry back to where it was originally placed, right in front of the Queen of Fries. "You guys know that we don't have to sit here in silence, right?"

"Yeah, we know that," Reyna said.

Annabeth and she stayed silent.

Piper huffed, annoyed at the two persistent girls. "Guys, come on. We need to talk about this."

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked gingerly.

"I wouldn't be sitting here with my BEST FRIENDS if I didn't want to talk to them." Piper flung some of her fries at the blonde and brunette sitting in front of her.

Reyna caught the fries like a hungry bird in her mouth, even though she clearly had enough fries already eaten to feed all three of them and Leo.

"Okay, okay," Annabeth placed Piper's fries back on her tray. "So, not to sound demanding, but, have you decided yet?"

Piper slowly fell to the tray on the lunch table, her arms a cushion for her head. "Ugggggghhhhh. No. What should I do?"

Annabeth looked sympathetically towards the saddened girl. "If you want my advice, I think you should go."

"Wait," Piper turned her head, so she was able to see the blonde. "You want me to go to Paris?"

"No, of course not. I want you to help your mom, and, if your mom is in Paris, that's where you need to go, Pipes," Annabeth said gently.

Reyna chewed her fries thoughtfully. "I dunno. I say maybe wait it out? Maybe go when school's over. We're almost done, anyways."

Piper nodded, bringing her head off the table, seeing both points of views of the girls. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But, like, I was thinking both of them. How can I choose if there are good arguments to either stay or go?"

"You want some more wise advice?" Annabeth asked.

"Please, I really need your help."

Reyna answered for Annabeth. "Ask Jason."

Piper put her head back on the table. "I haven't even talked to him since that stupid phone call," she said in a muffled voice.

She had told everyone except Jason what had happened over the phone. Jason was already there. He was the one who caused this debacle. Everyone knew it.

"But," Reyna started. "Still..."

"Just talk to him," Annabeth finished.

Piper picked her head up and stole a fry from Reyna. "Alright. I will."

* * *

Leo shot seven basketballs from the three-point line and only made two of them in.

"Man, Valdez, you've lost your touch," a voice said from behind him.

The boy turned towards the now opened gym doors. He smiled widely. "What's up, Pipes! Haven't seen you in a while, chica."

Piper rolled her eyes, "You saw me yesterday."

"In Leo years, that's like a millennium."

"Millennia? You've been using big words since I last saw you! Momma's so proud!" She walked over to the rack of basketballs next to him and picked on up.

"I'm a changed man, Mother."

Piper shot and made it into the basket. "Now aren't you glad I threw you out of the nest? You learned to not just fly, but soar." She put her hand over her heart dramatically.

Leo took another shot, missing by an inch.

"Nice, try, Valdez. You may have learned to soar, but Momma's still got the moves," Piper did a small victory dance.

The Latino decided to give up, knowing that Piper would keep making shots. "So, what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"I dunno, maybe I just wanted to beat your sorry butt." Piper shrugged.

Leo gave her a knowing look and sat down on the nearest bleacher, gesturing her to sit as well. "Come on, McLean. I know you better than that. You always have something to talk about," he paused. "Especially now, given that big decision that you need to make."

Piper gave in and sat down next to him, leaning on him for support.

He brought his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Tell me what's up, Piper."

"I don't know what to do, Leo. I want to help my mom. Like, I really do... But I have school. I have college. I have a future to think about." She felt a few tears slowly rolling down her face. "What do I do?"

"Man, Pipes. This is some real stuff. What do you want to do?" He wiped away some tears.

"Why do people keep asking me this? I just want to do the right thing, and, right now, I don't know what the right thing is." More tears ran down her cheeks.

"What's right for you, Pipes? Is it Paris?" Leo paused. "Or New York?" He rubbed her shoulder again, trying to gently calm her down, tears escaping her eyes.

"When I was in Paris, I didn't know where I was or who I was... Then I came back here, and you guys were here, and I finally felt like I was home. I felt like I belonged."

"Then I think you know the answer to your question."

"But what about my mom, Leo? She needs me right now."

He wiped away some of her tears. "Pipes, you have to do what's right for you. If staying here and finishing out the year then going to Paris for summer is what needs to happen, you need to do that."

"But, Leo..."

He pulled her into a hug.

She spoke quietly against his chest. "I don't know if I can do this. So much is relying on this decision. I don't think I can make the right decision."

"You can, and you will. You know why?" Leo pulled her out of the hug and looked at her, directly in the eyes. "Because you're Piper freakin' McLean. You could literally defeat a giant if you wanted to. You could control a person with your voice if you wanted to. You can do anything."

Piper brought Leo into a tight hug.

* * *

Reyna had texted Jason 20 minutes ago. **Hey, Jase. Meet me in our spot in 20. Got some things to talk about with you. -Rey**

He hurriedly made his way to the spot where the two shared their first kiss on the night of the dance. He sat down on one of the stone benches near a sunflower patch. A few butterflies lazily sat in the center, the first sign of spring coming early that year.

Jason sighed. "What have you done this time, Grace?" he whispered to himself. He looked towards the exit, where his car was closely parked.

"Ahem," a voice said from the other direction.

He looked towards them, smiling as he saw Reyna. She was wearing a royal purple sweater with black ripped jeans. Her hair was braided into two french braids. She looked beautiful.

"Hey, Rey." He grinned wider as he walked up to her to give her a kiss.

She held up her hand to his chest, just in time to stop the kiss from occurring. "Hey, Jason."

He looked at her, confused. She never rejected him. No one has. "What's wrong?"

She gestured towards the stone bench he had been sitting on. "Let's sit."

He nodded, worried that something was going to happen that he didn't plan for. "Sure. Yeah."

He sat down first. She sat down, a few inches away from him.

He tried to shake off the unnerving feeling he had that this meeting would be the end of something. "So, you wanted to talk?"

Reyna nodded, looking off into what was in front of her, a couple of patches of different flowers and a small bird pecking at some seeds that had been left for them by a couple of students sat in the garden. "Aw, the poor bird," she said with empathy.

Jason looked at her weirdly. "Is that what you wanted to talk about? A bird?"

She shrugged, still looking at the bird. "Sometimes I wonder how hard it is for them to find food through all of the snow in New York. If it would just be easier for them to leave than to suffer through something that isn't helping them. . ." She paused, catching her breath.

He waited for her to continue.

"There's been something I've been needing to ask you."

"Shoot."

She turned, looking at him straight in the eyes, standing her ground. "Do you love me?"

He searched her eyes that were brimmed with tears. "Do you think that I don't?"

Silence.

After a few seconds, she said, "Answer the question, Jason. Do you love me?" She looked back at the bird.

He remained silent.

"Jason, there is either a yes or a no. Don't leave me searching in a foot of snow like birds have to. Tell me up front." A tear broke free, rolling down her face.

Jason could feel the tears forcibly trying to get out of his own eyes. "Rey, I'm sorry..."

She shook her head. She wasn't going to leave without a concrete answer. "Jason, I don't care! Just tell me. Do you love me or not?"

"I," he paused and waited.

She looked at him, not broken, but saddened.

A tear went down his face. "I don't. I'm sorry, but I don't. I did, gods, I really did. But I don't now. Not anymore."

She nodded her head, using the sleeves of her royal purple sweater to wipe away her tears. She sniffled. "Thank you. I needed that."

He nodded, wiping away his tears as well. "So, what do we do?"

"Come on, Grace," she pushed him playfully. "You aren't in all honors and AP classes to ask a stupid question like that. You know what we have to do."

"I know, I just hate for this to end this way."

"It was bound to," Reyna said gently. "We both know that we weren't meant to be together. Maybe we were before but that was before Piper."

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Stop," she nudged him. "We may have just broken up, but I see the way you light up when she's with you." She chuckled. "That was really cheesy, I'm sorry."

He laughed, realizing it was true. "So, I guess this is goodbye?"

Reyna shook her head. "Not so fast. You can't get rid of me that easily. We're still best friends."

"Really?"

"Heck yeah," she ruffled his hair. "I'll see you around, Jason." She got up to walk away.

Before she went out of the gate, though, he asked her, "Hey, Rey?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever happened to Puerto Rico?"

She sucked in a breath. "I'm leaving next week."

Jason stood up, running towards her. "Next _week_?"

She nodded. "I'm telling everyone tomorrow. I gotta find some adventure. Out of state." She smiled widely and winked, excited for what came next.

Jason hugged her tightly.

* * *

"'Sup, man." Jason entered the outdoor basketball court that Percy had taken up privately to shoot some hoops.

"Hey," Percy said, shooting a basket and making it. "What's up?"

Jason shrugged, "Reyna just broke up with me."

Percy stopped, mid-shot, his hands still up in the hair. "Really? I'm sorry dude. Must really suck." He walked over to his friend, bouncing the ball towards the other side of the court.

"It's cool," Jason took a ball from the rack. "Just... unexpected, that's all. I really loved her, though."

"Yeah. But hey," Percy said. "Maybe that means we can stop this stupid game. Y'know, now that you can get Piper."

Jason looked at his friend, hope on the verge of taking over his entire being. _Could he really have Piper as his girlfriend? After all of this?_ Jason shook his head. _She was leaving for Paris._ "Nah, just gonna get another girl to fill Reyna's spot. Since she broke up with me, she doesn't count. Hey, what about that girl... Sadie? Wasn't she cute?" He shot the basketball he had been holding. It missed.

Percy rolled his eyes and took the basketball Jason had started to reach for from the rack. "No, I'm not dealing with this crap again, Jason. You gotta choose. Do you want a girl who you have actual feelings for or a lousy game that is so stupid that I question why I ever came up with it."

Jason looked Percy dead in the eye. "I'll take game for 100, please," mimicking Jeapordy. He walked away.

Percy shook his head, moaning. He watched Jason leave and said to himself, "I gotta call Annabeth."

* * *

"Hey, Perce." Piper said as she approached him. He was on the outdoor basketball court, shooting some hoops.

"Hey, Pipes. You just missed Jason." Percy shot a basketball towards the net.

"Eh, I'm pretty sure that we're not in the best place right now," Piper said and reached for the rebound, catching the ball.

Percy nodded, gesturing towards the ball in Piper's hands to play some one-on-one. Piper nodded as Percy replied, "Understood. So, whatcha need?"

Piper started to dribble the ball, heading for the basket on the opposite side to score a point. "I needed your opinion on the whole France thing. Should I go?"

Percy tried to steal the ball away from the brunette but failed. She shot and scored a point. He high-fived her, "I don't know, it's not my decision to decide for you, Pipes. What do you want to do?"

Piper shrugged, "That's the thing, I don't know what I want to do... I mean, spending the rest of the year in Paris seems really exciting and my mom needs me, but if I leave, then I won't be able to see you guys or finish out the year."

Percy shook his head, "That's not what I meant. What do you want to do with your life? You keep asking us what we think you should do but have you ever thought about asking yourself what you wanna do? I'm 100 percent sure that both your heart and mind have decisions that have already been made. It's up to you now, Piper. What do you wanna do?" He held her stare, waiting for an answer.

Piper looked down, towards the basketball and her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't go... I'm not ready to leave this behind."

Percy smiled at his friend. "That's a good answer. Now," he stole the ball away from her playfully. "Who are you going to tell this news to next?"

Piper gasped, "I don't know. But I'll definitely know after I beat your sorry butt at this game." She stole the ball that he had been dribbling slowly and ran towards her goal, whatever that may be.

* * *

Jason unwillingly left his bed after a long power nap. A good nap never hurt anyone, especially him.

He walked to his front door, its bell being assaulted by a certain blonde waiting impatiently outside. He groaned and unlocked the door. "What do you, Annabeth?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and pushed her way through the house that she knew like the back of her hand. "You, apparently. What the heck is going on with your moronic brain? It's functioning stupider than normal." She angrily bounced onto his sectional, huffing.

Jason ran his hands through his hair, annoyed at the intruder. "What do you mean, Annabeth? I am as stupid as I usually am." He made his way to the living room after locking the door.

She looked at him, anger still flaring in her gray eyes. "Listen, cut the crap. I know about your stupid, and very lame, might I add, bet that you made with Percy at the beginning of the year. I know that you're on the path to be the 'coolest guy in school' and in search for the next girl wearing pants you haven't pulled down yet. But I also know that, woah, shocker, you love a certain Piper McLean. So what the heck are you doing trying to run away from your feelings?"

Jason walked over to a wall, fists clenched. He attempted to punch it, but Annabeth was there to catch it. She gave him a knowing look.

He shrugged her away and slowly sat on the opposite side of his living room. "I don't know what to do, Annabeth. Piper's probably on her flight, ready to find the cutest guy in Paris and fall in love, and I'll be here sulking in my room. I figured that I should at least do that in the comfort of another girl. Is that so wrong?" He looked towards the blonde.

"Yes. Very wrong, on sooo many levels, Grace." She moved to sit next to him. "You know that Piper wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye, let alone telling us her decision. She isn't that low."

"I know. I know." Jason put his face in his hands, in an attempt to wipe away the fear that he had secretly harbored for the longest time. "But what if she does? What if she will?"

"You know she won't."

He got up. "But what if she does? What if she does run off and leave all of us in New York?"

"You mean what if she left you."

"Especially me."

Annabeth got up, a small smile on her face. "Then tell her, Jason. Tell her you're afraid that she'll leave you. Tell her how you feel. Stop being the coward I know that you aren't."

Jason nodded and hugged his best friend. "Thank you."

She nodded into his shoulder and smiled.

* * *

Piper had gone home and started to unpack her boxes filled to the brim with memories she was supposed to bring to Paris. She stopped unpacking one of the boxes as she heard a knock on her door. She turned around and found her dad leaning against the door jamb.

She smiled. "Hey, I was about to call you. I made my decision." She gestured towards the pile of unpacked trinkets.

He walked towards her, a small smile spread across his face. "I'm glad you were able to come to one." He started to help her unpack another box. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes," Piper said decisively. "This is what I want. I'll go to Paris over break, help mom out when I don't have to focus on school. I'll be able to be with her the whole time that way."

He nodded as he brought out a photo. He chuckled. "I remember this day. I didn't think you would keep this." He held up the frame towards Piper. It had been a photo from one of their old father-daughter photo shoots. It had started to rain and the two decided to dance around in the grass outside of their old family home.

Piper smiled widely. "Why wouldn't I? This was the first day that I finally beat you in a dance off."

"That is not how I remember it, young lady. I remember a certain little girl face-planting as she tried to do a twirl."

"Really?" Piper pretended not to remember it. "I don't recall that. Must have been a different little girl."

"No. You are my little girl, Piper." He put down the frame and went to hug her. "I'm really glad that you've found a place to be happy. Without me. I haven't been there for you for most of your life. I will be, from now on. I promise."

Piper embraced him tightly. "Love you, dad."

"I love you too, Pipes."

* * *

Piper kicked a pile of melting snow as she entered her neighborhood park. She used to go there all the time before she met Jason, Leo, or any of her other friends. She smiled at the memories of her alone, sitting on the only bench, and fantasizing about her dad finally coming home.

"Hey. Wanna shoot some hoops?" A voice said from behind her.

Piper turned around and looked at the person who held up a basketball and gestured towards the basketball hoop. "Sure. Why not?"

He smiled. "I thought you weren't talking to me, McLean."

The two walked towards the court.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm nice to cute boys, Grace."

"Oh, so I'm cute. Huh, I pinned myself as the 'hot basketball player with killer abs' type of guy. Thanks for ruining my self-esteem, Pipes. I am forever wounded." He bounced the ball towards her.

"Dream on, Jase. I can say a ton of guys hotter than you attending Goode." She started to dribble the ball towards her basket.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup." She shot and made the basket.

He went to get the rebound, getting a little closer than they normally got. "So," he said, his face an inch away from her.

"Ahem." Piper pulled away. She quickly masked her nervous look by putting on a game face. "Come on, Grace. Bring your A-game."

He rolled his eyes playfully and ran to shoot a basket in his hoop. He missed.

Piper laughed. "I don't know if it's just me but I think that Jason Grace has lost his edge."

Jason walked away and sat on the edge of the court. He pushed his hands through his hair, his mood changing from playful to serious. "Maybe I am, Piper."

Her smile vanished and was replaced by a grave one. She walked towards him and sat down next to him, bringing her arm around his shoulders. She tried to get him to look towards her as he stared blankly at the sidewalk below him, but he wouldn't budge. He was very intent on watching a group of ants march their way towards an ant hill that was next to a pile of melted snow. She pushed him gently, trying to get his attention away from the ants. He wouldn't.

"Hey," Piper said gently. "I was joking."

Jason nodded slowly, his eyes showing how worried he was. "I know, but I'm not joking. Pipes, what if I am losing my edge? When Junior year began, I thought I would have the best year. What if I jinxed myself?"

"You didn't." Piper shook her head firmly. She started to watch the last of the ants march the opposite way, away from them and the rest of civilization. "You met me this year. It was probably your best one." Jason chuckled halfheartedly. Piper knit her eyebrows. "What's making you think you did?"

" Percy..." Jason paused. "But, mostly you." He finally looked her in the eyes. Her kaleidoscopic eyes that always made him want to keep looking, staring.

"Me?" Piper was confused. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

"What do you _not_ have to do with? You are always there for me, Pipes, and now you're going across the world. Away from Goode. Away from our friends. Away from me." Jason rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Jase, I'm not going."

"What?" Jason pulled his hands away from his eyes. She could now see that he had been tearing up.

She grabbed his face in her hands. "I. Am. Not. Leaving. You."

Jason quickly leaned forward and kissed Piper. It was weird, different. A good different. Piper lost herself and kissed back. Her hands traveled to his hair, messing it up even more. His hands cupped her face gently as if she was the most delicate thing that he has ever held. They moved in sync and as one. Her fears of the future tearing away as she felt the rolling tears from Jason's face continue onto her own face. She was him and he was her. They were each other's and no one else's.

•••

"You do realize that if your dad catches us up here I am a dead man, right?" Jason cautiously looked down from where the two sat. He had the perfect view of Piper's backyard. He wobbled as he sat next to Piper on her roof. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Oh yeah," Piper reassured. She squeezed his sweaty hand for more of an effect. "I've done this before."

Jason snorted. "Yeah, in your dreams. Was I a part of this dream too, McLean?" He nudged her jokingly.

"Yes. You nudged me and I fell." She looked pointedly at him.

Jason gulped, his face revealing that he was scared to death. "Did that really happen."

Piper laughed. "No, idiot. I'm touched that you think I would dream of you, though. You think too highly of yourself."

Jason mimicked mockingly in a tiny voice, "You think too highly of yourself."

He gazed up, looking at the night sky. The stars shined especially bright that night, that or the sky was especially dark that night. Piper leaned her head in the crook of his neck, staring at the sky with him. She swayed to the imaginary music she played in her head. Tonight it was her favorite High School Musical song. She smiled widely, knowing what she needed to do with Jason.

Piper hopped up from her seat on the roof with ease, not terrified by how far above they were from the ground. "Okay, get up, Grace. Time to show me your dance moves."

He looked worriedly at her, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Are you sure about this, Pipes? Is this even safe?"

"Nope. But, I'm a dangerous girl." She laughed, helping him up, pulling him to her.

"That, I can believe." He hugged her and they stayed in the moment. She loved his scent. She hoped she would never forget it or the way his strong arms wrapped around her. "Word of warning, though," Jason interrupted her thoughts. "I can't dance."

"Really? I heard you had a good teacher," Piper winked at him, remembering the first time they slow danced in his room. She still saw the worry in his face, though. "Don't worry, just follow the music."

Jason looked at his girlfriend weirdly, "What music?"

"The song in your head, of course."

Jason snorted.

"Like you don't have a song in your head right now," Piper demanded.

Jason shrugged. "I don't usually."

"Well, then, follow my lead. I've got the perfect song playing in my head."

"Whatever you say, Pipes." Jason gripped Piper's waist with one hand as she took the other. They started to slowly dance into the night and into their futures together.

* * *

 **1 year later...**

"So, on a scale of one to ten, how good of a boyfriend am I?" Jason burrowed his face into his girlfriend's neck.

"A solid 2, maybe a 2.3489, if I stretch it," she said, laughing as he took his head out of her neck with a sad puppy dog face on.

"Oh come on, at least give me a 2.7," he complained as his arms wrapped around her waist. He was stuck between her and the back of the couch.

"Mmm, make me food and I'll give you a 3.845," she offered, wriggling around to weave her hands through his hair. It was soft, almost too soft. "Did you condition your hair last night?" She kept on moving her fingers in and out of the strands.

"Mhm," he said, his voice muffled against her stomach. "Why," he lifted his head, resting a cheek on it. "Do you like it?"

She smelled his hair and gave it a ruffle, "I love it."

He grinned from ear to ear, then hopped up from the couch. "Now, about that meal... Does take-out count?'

"Depends... Is it Chinese?" she brought one of the pillows on the floor to her chest.

"What other take-out is there?" Jason grabbed his phone from the coffee table, then flopped on top of her again as he took the pillow out of her arms.

He called in for the meal, then looked at his girlfriend. She glared at him. "What?"

"You took my pillow," she said in a furious whisper.

"What?" he looked at the pillow in his hand innocently. "Oh, sorry. Here," he offered it to her; she sassily declined.

"I refuse to have any physical contact with you, from today forwards," she turned around, facing the part of the couch people had their backs against.

Jason rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Fine, if that's how it's going to be, then I guess I'll have to make out with this pillow instead."

She gasped, "NOT HELEN. HELEN IS MY BEST FRIEND." She squirmed her body and got up from the couch, trying to run away.

"I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND!" Jason hit her with Helen then grabbed her waist, pulling her back to him.

She laughed and let him pull her back to the couch, "You're a close second. But Helen will always be there for me." She broke free from his grasp and stood her ground.

"I wonder how Helen would think of me if I dropped her," he dropped Helen and grabbed Piper McLean. "And I kissed you instead." Jason cupped her face.

"Well, Helen can always wait. She's very patient." Piper grinned and leaned in, meeting Jason in the middle.

They kissed and Jason groaned, "Helen's a good friend."

"She is."

"And I'm a good kisser."

"Debatable. I think you'll have to kiss me again to make sure."

* * *

 _A/N: That's a wrap! *insert a ton of exclamation points* *proceeds to happy dance* THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY! Whether you read the whole thing or skipped around, there is no shame in doing that I have done it countless times, I thank you for deciding to read this story by little old me._

 _It's been quite a journey to write this and I really do hope you enjoyed it. Thanks fro pressing on and reading 27 chapters and undergoing the perfection that is Jason and Piper._

 _Jason and Piper will always have a special place in my heart along with the fantabulous books by Rick Riordan. Again, I hope you enjoyed and THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU AMAZING HOMO SAPIENS!_ _*insert a ton of exclamation points* *hugs each one of u and ur babies* *squishes ur face*_

 ** _~songsaboutjasper_**

 _(also: shoutout to how to be a heartbreaker by marina and the diamonds. this story wouldnt be here without it.)_


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